This olive pasta is so delicious yet so simple to make!
I don’t know about you, but when I was younger I HATED olives. The sight, the smell, everything. Which is mad, because now I could literally eat a bucket of them! If you love olives, then you’re going to fall deeper in love after this recipe. Follow me…
Pasta with Olives
One of my favourite ways to use olives in cooking is to make them the star of the show in a delicious pasta. There are various different routes you could take with olive pasta, but here’s my favourite combo:
- Olives – pitted and halved.
- Lemon – I use both the juice and zest. Olives love lemon!
- Garlic – olives also love garlic!
- Parmesan – not too much, but this is great for a boost of flavour and to help create a lightly creamy sauce.
- Butter – this adds richness to the dish and balances out the sharper flavours.
- Extra virgin olive oil – adds a gentle background flavour and helps create a glossy sauce.
- Herbs – I opt for basil and parsley – both fresh!
- Seasoning – I go for chilli flakes and black pepper. You may or may not need salt.
- Pine nuts – these are optional, but I love sprinkling toasted pine nuts over at the end.
What kind of olives should I use?
I use ‘Queen Green Olives’ which are pretty big. You could use a smaller variety if you’d prefer. If you use olives that are already marinated in flavour try and match them to the flavours in this dish (garlic, lemon, basil etc).
Making Olive Pasta
This dish comes together really quickly, so I recommend having everything ready to rock and roll! I like to start by toasting the pine nuts so they’re ready to serve.
From there, I love frying the olives in oil and butter to allow for a gorgeous flavour exchange. This will also help soften the olives a little.
What kind of pasta should I use?
I love using Tagliatelle because it allows the glossy sauce to ooze around the pasta. You could sub linguine or fettuccine if you’d prefer. Failing that just use any sort of long-cut pasta.
Starchy Pasta Water
This is a key ingredient in forming the glossy sauce. The starch will help emulsify the fats and help them turn into a light creamy sauce that clings to the pasta. Just make sure the pasta water is well-seasoned so you don’t dilute the flavour of the sauce.
Process shots: fry pine nuts then remove (photo 1), add oil and butter (photo 2), fry olives, garlic, lemon zest, chilli flakes and black pepper (photo 3), toss in pasta and pasta water then toss in parmesan (photo 4), add basil and parsley (photo 5), toss to combine (photo 6).
Serving Olive Pasta
The final product shouldn’t be watery at all. There should be a very light, creamy, glossy sauce that clings to the pasta. To serve, I love topping with the pine nuts, alongside some extra basil and parmesan.
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this olive pasta shall we?!
How to make Olive Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
Delicious Olive Pasta
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Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Pot & Tongs (for pasta)
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 350g / 12.3oz dried Tagliatelle (see notes)
- 1/4 cup / 40g Pine Nuts (optional but recommended)
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 tbsp / 45g Butter (use unsalted if sensitive to salt)
- 200g / 7oz large pitted Green Olives, halved (see notes)
- 4 large cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1/2 Lemon, zest and juice (or more to taste)
- 1/4 tsp EACH: Black Pepper, Chilli Flakes, or to preference
- 25g / 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve
- 1/2 small bunch Fresh Parsley, finely diced (15g/0.5oz)
- 1/2 small bunch Fresh Basil, finely diced (15g/0.5oz) plus more to serve
- Salt, as needed
Instructions
- Add the pasta to well-salted boiling water and cook until al dente (it will carry on cooking slightly in the pan). Don’t drain.
- Meanwhile, add the pine nuts to a large pan over medium heat and shake them frequently until they begin to lightly brown (careful – they burn quickly!). Remove them from the pan.
- Add the oil and butter and stir until the butter melts. Add the olives and fry them for 2-3 mins until they begin to soften and blister slightly. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, black pepper and lemon zest and fry for another minute (careful the garlic doesn’t burn).
- Turn the heat to low and use tongs to transfer the pasta straight from the pot into the pan. Squeeze over the lemon juice then pour in ~1/2 cup of the leftover pasta water. Give it a good toss to emulsify the liquids (you’ll notice it turn a little cloudy). Toss in the parmesan until it melts then toss in the basil and parsley. If at any point during this the pasta dries up just toss in more pasta water as needed to loosen it up. The end result shouldn’t be watery at all, more of a light glossy sauce that clings to the pasta.
- Check for seasoning and adjust if needed with salt and pepper. You can also add more chilli flakes and lemon juice if you’d like. Serve with parmesan, basil and pine nuts and enjoy!
Video
Notes
b) Olives – I use Queen Green Olives, which are pretty big. You could use a smaller variety if you’d prefer. If you use olives that are already marinated in flavour try and match them to the flavours in this dish (garlic, lemon, basil etc).
c) Seasoning – I typically just use salted butter and find the salt levels fine. Olives are already quite salty, so if you’re at all wary then use unsalted butter. In all cases though make sure you make sure the pasta/sauce is properly seasoned to bring out the best in this simple dish.
d) Pasta Water – This is a key ingredient in forming the glossy sauce. The starch will help emulsify the fats, so don’t overfill the pasta with water when boiling. Use just enough to cook it properly so it ends up nice and starchy. Also make sure it’s well-seasoned so you don’t dilute the flavour of the sauce.
e) Calories – Whole recipe divided by 4 with no extra parmesan.
Nutrition
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