Sunday is pasta day for sure. We always have macaroni on Sunday. But even though most things in my life yield to Sunday macaroni, the Giants game is not one of them. When the Giants play, I have to watch, so I have to change my cooking schedule accordingly. If the Giants are playing at home at their normal afternoon time, we have pasta after the game or at half time. Same thing if they are playing away. Watch, cook, eat. But, if the giants are playing at night, we have to eat before the game. This is the recipe I make on those occasions. I start the dish a little before game time so I can sit in my favorite chair and watch the game right after I finish eating. It’s such a light dish with such rich flavors. I love it.
I also eat it when I come home from the beach. This has become something of a ritual. We’ll have spent a long weekend at the beach, and as soon as I get home I make a plate of this pasta. At the beach, the days are long. I usually take a nice long walk in the mornings, work all through the day - under the Shibumi at the beach in the summers - and spend the night cooking, building things for the house like outdoor showers or planters, and playing Rummikub with Carrie. When we get back to Raleigh on Sunday night, it’s usually 7:30, and I’m beat. This dish is just the kind of comfort food we need (and by “we” I mean “I,” because Carrie doesn’t much like olives and garlic - or tomatoes and pasta for that matter).
I came up with this recipe myself. I was watching a show where the host travels through Italy, going to restaurants and talking to chefs, eating the different, delicious cuisines of each region. The dish has lasted longer than my memory of the show - I can’t remember the name of the show anymore! Anyway, the host went to one restaurant where the chef made a dish similar to this one. I love the briny taste of the olives, the slight acidity of the caramelized tomatoes. Sometimes, to make it a little heartier, I put broccoli rabe or sausage in it. (When I’m not on a diet) I make it every other week.
Here are the ingredients
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Grape, cherry, or mini heirloom tomatoes; cut in half
- Salt to taste
- 2 cloves of garlic; chopped
- A pinch of red pepper flakes
- Kalamata olives; cut in half
- Sicilian green olives; cut in half
- Grated parmesan/pecorino romano to taste
- Parsley; chopped
- (Optional) Zinfandel
To make the dish
- If drinking the zinfandel, stick it in the fridge so it’s appropriately chilled by the time the dish is ready.
- Start your pasta water. Make sure to add a bunch of salt. It should taste like the sea.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a big sautée pan.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and sautée until they are almost carmelized (usually about 10-12 mins). Add salt to taste.
- Around halfway through cooking the tomatoes, add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and both kinds of olives
- If using a protein like shrimp or sausage, you can add it now. Same with vegetables like broccoli rabe.
- Continue to sautée the tomato and olive mixture until carmelized; adding olive oil as needed
- Also around halfway through cooking the tomato and olive mixture, add your linguini to the now-boiling pasta water. Cook until al dente. Once cooked, drain thoroughly.
- Add your pasta into the sauce pan with the tomatoes and olives. Continue to toss over heat for about a minute.
- Plate the pasta by twirling it with a fork or tongs onto theplate. Add parmesan (or pecorino romano) and parsley to taste.
- Take the zinfandel out of the fridge, open, and pour yourself a glass.
Sit. Eat. Enjoy.
This dish is comfort food for me. All those flavors - the tomato, the garlic, the olives, the red pepper, the pasta - I associate them all with my childhood and my family. When I eat this dish, it reminds me of them.
When I was a kid, we had a similarly simple dish - aglio e olio - which we ate all the time. That was something tasty that we could throw together in no time, like this.
This dish just makes me happy. I can’t wait to get off my diet so I can eat it again.