I think that pasta will always have a special place in my heart, as it was my die hard favourite meal growing up. We would eat pasta at least three times per week and there were certainly no complaints from me. My favourites would have to be carbonara, pesto pasta and of course, a classic tomato pasta. This is slightly different from the dishes that I would’ve been tucking into as a kid, however it’s no less delicious and probably a fair bit healthier as well!
This pasta is so simple to make, yet is absolutely packed with fresh and vibrant flavours & colours. The olives and tomatoes provide a really rich flavour, that works really well to create a super flavourful sauce without having to use a whole bunch of ingredients. I feel like although pasta is a hot dish, it’s a great summertime meal idea and the simple veggie and olive oil sauce keeps things nice and light. I feel like the decadent, creamy sauces are more preferable on a cooler day.
This would be a great dish to serve for a summer dinner party or side dish for a BBQ. It’s completely plant based and packs in a few different portions of veggies in there too! I actually don’t really like raw tomatoes. In fact, I don’t like them at all and I’ve only ever eaten them cooked, as I find this really helps to bring out all of the amazing flavours. It might also be a texture thing for me as well, I just don’t like the feel or taste of eating raw tomatoes haha.
One of the key ingredients that I wanted to mention here, is these piquillo pepper stuffed olives from Fragata. I was actually not all that keen on olives until recently and these ones are genuinely so delicious! They add an incredible dose of flavour into the sauce and a nice hint of salty richness. They would also be delicious mixed into salads, on pizza, through rice, roasted with veggies or just for snacking on their own! I’m not saying that this is by any means an authentic Italian dish, I feel like adding the olives gives this that depth of flavour and more of an authentic Italian taste.
Burst Tomato Summer Pasta With Piquillo Stuffed Olives
Ingredients
- 2 servings buckwheat tagliatelle or other pasta of choice
- 1 small red onion 3 cloves garlic
- Large handful vine plum tomatoes
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Handful fresh basil
- Small handful of Fragata Piquillo pepper stuffed olives approximately 7
- Handful fresh spinach
Instructions
- Dice the onion into small pieces and peel and crush the garlic cloves.
- In a frying pan, heat a two of olive oil over medium heat and add in the onions. Sauté these until softened, then add the crushed garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Slice the courgette into semicircle shaped slices and cook these in with the onion & garlic mixture along with the tomatoes. Slice the olives into halves and stir these through the veggies with a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Reduce the heat slightly and leave to cook through.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
- Once the tomatoes have all started to burst and release all of the wonderful juices. Tear up the fresh basil leaves and mix these and the spinach through. Adjust any seasonings to taste.
- When your pasta is cooked through, transfer this to the pan with the sauce, saving a little of the pasta water for later.
- Drizzle over the extra tbsp of olive oil and a few spoonfuls of the leftover pasta water and toss everything together.
- Serve with some extra basil and black pepper to garnish and fresh parmesan if you desire.
