Olive and Pine Nut Pasta – this is an ideal summer dish where olives and pine nuts are the stars. Simple, delicious, and the only cooking required is the pasta!
This recipe was developed by me for Star Fine Foods, whom I have an ongoing relationship with. All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for helping to support the brands that I love and make Belly Full possible!
Happy Friday, friends! Hope your week was good.
We attended Open House on Wednesday. And I pretended to be surprised by all Trevor’s art projects, even though I’d already seen them (<< drawback of helping in the classroom all year long.)
It didn’t matter. The look of excitement on his face was pure joy.
And then we checked out all the 4th grade classrooms to see what’s in store for Haley next year.
Fun time is over.
The class size increases from 22 to 33 (wha what???), and in come the rolling backpacks. It seriously looks like an airport in the morning. Plus the Mission Project that costs $75 to make, and apparently makes every child and parent hate each other. Good times.
But for now, I’ll just enjoy the last few weeks of school. Three, to be exact!
The teachers seem to be letting up on the homework. See, we’re ALL done. DONE. Like everyone is sort of mentally checking out.
And I totally don’t want to cook, but we just can’t keep ordering pizza every night! Or so I’m told. It’s also come to my attention that I can’t just only eat olives all day long. Boo.
Ok. Fine. So I made pasta with olives. Compromise.
In this particular dish, the pasta is the only thing that actually gets cooked. So, instead of chopping up fresh garlic – which would be eaten raw and very unpleasant! – I used STAR’s signature series garlic flavored extra virgin olive oil (available at Safeway and Vons.) Chef Ferran recommends it especially for bread dipping, roasting, grilling, or in marinades, but it was perfect mixed in here.
This is an ideal meal for summer. Simple, delicious, and minimal time at the stove!
Olive and Pine Nut Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups dried rotini pasta
- 3/4 cup black olives , finely diced
- 1/4 cup pimento-stuffed green olives , finely diced
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes , or to taste
- 1/4 cup garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan , plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil; cook pasta until al dente.
- In the meantime, finely chop the olives. Transfer to a large bowl along with the pine nuts, parsley, and red-pepper flakes; stir in oil until combined.
- Drain pasta and add it to the olive mixture. Toss with the Parmesan to combine well. Serve in bowls with a little more sprinkling of Parmesan on top, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Notes
I mean, I’m totally fine with eating olives all day long…but I’ll also take this pasta. Preferably in the largest bowl you have.
Love this pasta recipe!!!
That project, for us, was the volcano. OMG. And the class size. It’s ridiculous! This pasta is too, in the very best way!
“It didn’t matter. The look of excitement on his face was pure joy.” :’)
Ohmygod, Melissa. He fluttered about the room wanting to show me every single thing. “Oh, Mom…you have to see this!” and “Oh Mom, come over here!” Freaking adorable. I might have cried. (I totally cried.)
I know you. You were probably a blubbering mess. ;)
The class size increases from 22 to 33?!!! Wow!! that is crazy! I wonder when the class size increase over here. My oldest will be going into 3rd grade. and what on earth is the Mission Project?!! I love pasta salads like this!!! I’ll be making this all summer long, love it!
Insane, right? The Mission Project is where they have to build a mission replica. It’s a CA thing, probably. There were some that were incredible. But all the parents say to put your big panties on, because it consumes the school year and tears will be shed. Yay! #sonotexcited