Today it’s all about quick and easy! As in, open some jars, boil some pasta, and stir it all together – seriously, it doesn’t get any easier than this 15-minute Mediterranean pasta with olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta.
I think I’ve mentioned that, for some really strange reason, we got a puppy.
We got a puppy. Those words have finally sunk in two and half weeks after Feynman, our little bundle of golden retriever puppy joy, arrived home.
Right now, as I type this, he’s sleeping and I’m really hoping the gentle clickity-clack of my typing doesn’t wake him because I am enjoying the peace – I love, love, love when he sleeps. When his little eyes are closed and he’s laid out flat on his tummy with his little puppy legs splayed out (is there anything cuter?) it means he’s not running around, nipping at our clothes, legs, fingers, or my ponytail.
Sleep means I can take my eyes off him and not worry about looking up and seeing random things hanging out of his mouth, the sight of which sends me flying ready to retrieve whatever foreign object has made its way into his mouth. I’m like the Jaws of Life for puppies – I can get in there and retrieve the object before he even knows what happened.
Sleep means I can power down the newly discovered internal radar that alerts me (most of the time) when it’s time to go outside. “Outside? Outside?” I’m pretty sure he thinks that’s his name because I when I call him Feynman it barely registers, but “outside?” gets him all excited and wiggly. Gotta work on the name recognition. And walking on the leash. And the nipping, although he is getting better thanks to our “ow, ow, ow!” technique. Yes, it’s a thing.
Oh, but there’s so much good stuff, too – we taught him to share “kisses”, which is basically little puppy licks on our hands instead of sharp puppy bites. He sits on command unless he’s totally distracted, which is about 80% of the time, but – yay! – progress! And, of course, the cuteness. His cute, happy, curious little self makes our hearts melt.
I promise I won’t turn this blog into Our Puppy Update, but I needed to share because – wow – life sure is different. With all this change we’ve struggled to maintain our own routines, one of which is dinner. As in, what the heck are we having tonight?
Let’s turn our attention back to this 15-minute Mediterranean pasta: it’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s full of delicious things like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts – all sorts of good things that can just hang out in the pantry until you need them on those crazy busy nights. There are a few fresh ingredients – stuff I think is always good to have on hand like garlic, parsley, feta cheese and lemon – and when you put it all together you get a dinner that hits the spot without taking up tons of time.
We all can use some time, right?
Um.. yes, please!
More Quick and Easy Recipes
Dinner for One: Easy Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic
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15-Minute Mediterranean Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
It doesn’t get any easier than this Mediterranean-inspired pasta. With just a few simple pantry ingredients, a couple of fresh ingredients, and 15 minutes this easy dinner is ready to serve.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 1/3 cup halved Kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
- 1 (10-ounce) jar artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (use the kind marinated in herbs)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook it according to package directions.
- While the spaghetti is boiling, add the garlic and olive oil to a small pan. Heat the oil over medium-low heat and let the garlic gently cook in the oil, for about ten minutes. Adjust the heat to maintain a low simmer, you don’t want the garlic too brown too quickly. After ten minutes discard the garlic and turn off the heat.
- Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain it and return it to the pot. Add everything, except the feta cheese, to the pot with the spaghetti and toss it all to combine. Add 3/4 of the feta, reserve some for serving, and give it one more gentle toss. Serve right away with the extra feta on the side.
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 503
- Sugar: 3.8g
- Sodium: 978.8mg
- Fat: 26.7g
- Carbohydrates: 53.7g
- Fiber: 5.7g
- Protein: 15.1g
Keywords: Mediterranean Pasta
Anne says
I put together a similar recipe as an entry in the Gilroy Garlic Festival Cook-Off 20 years ago – I used 6 cloves of garlic, no artichokes but lots of fresh spinach. And I called it Mediterranean Pasta! I was chosen as a finalist and participated at the Cook-Off during the festival. Fun times!
April Anderson says
Sounds delicious!
Bryant Schoenherr says
I’ve been trying to replicate dish served at a restaurant in San Jose, CA…Sonoma Chicken Coop I think. It was called greco spaghettini. Years ago I was able to replicate it from memory, but 10 years later your recipe is the closest. I add capers along with the kalamata olives.
What I can’t recall is whether it had diced chicken breast meat in it. So I fried some in olive oil and some garlic and seasonings and added at the end.
Wonderful dish!
thank you
★★★★
April Anderson says
Oh, that’s great! So glad you liked – I love that you added chicken 🙂
Christi says
Oh! I meant to add – is there anything you’d recommend substituting for the olives to still have that tangy flavor? My husband hates olives and I can’t get him to eat them, sadly. I love them! I want to make this again without the olives but I know I would miss that flavor!
April says
I’m so glad you liked it! Maybe some chopped capers instead of olives? They are briny but won’t be as noticeable if you chop them up a bit 🙂
Christi says
I absolutely loved this recipe! It was SO easy and SO delicious!!! I am new to cooking and I seriously thought I’d just ordered a pasta dish at a fancy Italian restaurant or something. I couldn’t believe something I made tasted so delicious. It definitely took me 30 minutes instead of 15. I spent 15 minutes waiting for the water to boil! But I loved that the hands-on and prep time was so short. After dinner I got the munchies and ate the leftovers cold and it was really good cold too!!! Thank you for such a delicious, quick, and easy recipe!
★★★★★
Crysta says
The recipe was very tasty! But, as a college student barely learning to cook for myself lol it was sort of difficult to follow along. I understand 1. But, I was lost by 2. So I heat up the oil and the garlic but then it doesn’t say anything else about the rest of the ingredients such as the artichokes and the tomatoes and the olives. I didn’t want to throw them in the pot of the pasta without heating them up first so I heated them in the oil for a bit then threw them in the pasta and tossed. After I sorted that out, it was a very good recipe!
★★★★
April says
Hi Crysta! Thank you for this feedback – glad you enjoyed it! I will make some updates to the instructions so it’s not confusing for others who try it 🙂
Alisa says
Delicious! I used drained canned artichoke hearts, a tiny drizzle of sundried tomato oil, and some basil, oregano and crushed red pepper. I also added some fresh baby spinach.
★★★★★
April says
I love the additions! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Anita D says
This has become our favorite pasta dish!
Cheryl says
I make this recipe frequently. I also add fresh basil or the refrigerated kind in a tube. I have also thrown in green onions if I have some. And yes I also like the leftovers cold. Great recipe!
marcela says
I pride myself on enjoying cooking/making up my own recipes/friends always wanting my recipes. So I think I’m a good judge 🙂 LOL This was delicious. Id think that the commenter above that didn’t like the recipe must not like one of the ingredients. They are pretty strong flavors. My husband and I love everything in this dish so we LOVED it! Thank you for an easy, flavor filled recipe. I did do a LITTLE lighter on the evoo and rinsed the sundried tomatoes a bit because I didn’t want it to be too oily. Oh and added a bit of pepper because we love it. Thanks a ton!
★★★★★
April says
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Kathleen says
Ever serve it as a cold pasta salad?
April says
I haven’t served it chilled as a pasta salad before – let me know if you try it!
Liza says
Made this 3x now since I Pinned it. My family loves it! Thank you!!!
P.S. I think you have to use good quality ingredients to make this recipe work. The recipe is so simple that you rely on them to make a really good dish.
April says
I’m so glad you like it, Liza! And -yes, totally agree that good quality ingredients work best 🙂
Heiditheriault says
I tried this recipe and it was’nt so good :/ i’m a little bit desapointed..
April says
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it – let me know if there was anything in particular that didn’t work for you.
Mary @ StrawmarySmith says
This pasta looks so delicious!! Anything with artichoke hearts and I am so there!
Kelley @ Chef Savvy says
Seriously your puppy is so adorable! Congratulations!! As for this pasta, it looks so amazing and super simple!
April says
Thanks, Kelley!