Use olives and other larder ingredients plus the fresh vegetables you have on hand for a fragrant and spicy meal. It’s a lighter version of Pasta Puttanesca that’s more suitable for summer. I made it as the last meal during a friends’ cabin weekend. It was good enough to trigger planning for our next gathering! (Get our Weekend-Away Menu here.)
I give exact proportions below so I can show you the cost and nutrition information, but feel free to improvise. This recipe is vegan and can be gluten-free if you choose a gluten-free base. It goes well with a higher-protein dessert such as Vegan Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream.
Pasta Puttanesca said to have been made by ladies of the evening to attract customers with its pungent aroma. Wikipedia says it became popular in the 1960s and has been featured in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and the TV show Person of Interest.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 1/4 medium bell pepper
- 2 leaves rainbow chard
- 1 cup green beans
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle or ground red pepper
- 3 cups dry whole wheat rotini or base of your choice
- 16 ounces diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives pitted and sliced, or olives of your choice
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano or Italian spice mix
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
Ingredients
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- Mince garlic and set aside. Heat olive olive in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Chop onion and bell pepper and add to skillet, stirring occasionally. Remove stem tips from green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces, and stir into onion mixture. Pull or cut leaves from chard stems. Chop chard stems and set aside leaves. Add chopped stems to skillet, stir, and cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Cook pasta or base of your choice. Stack chard leaves, roll up, and cut crossways into thin strips about 1/4 inch across. Cut across through rolls two or three times so you have bite-sized chard ribbons.
- When onions are soft, stir in garlic and chipotle, and then stir in garlic, tomatoes, olives, oregano, and salt. Rest chard ribbons on other vegetables but do not stir. Cover skillet and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir, taste, and adjust seasonings.
- Drain pasta when done, add sauce, and toss until well mixed. Serve hot. Refrigerate any extra for up to 5 days.
Notes
- By "base" I mean pasta, baked potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, or other whole grains.
- Usually, I use crushed tomatoes for pasta sauce, but diced was what we had. I was delighted to see that this let the flavor and color of the other vegetables stand out.
- If you have someone who doesn't like olives or capers, divide the sauce and stir those in at the end. This is what I do at home for my olive-adverse Taster.
Nutritional Information for Summer Pasta with Olives
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