This quick and easy tomato pasta is full of bold flavours from the olives, capers and chilli which pairs perfectly with the rich tomato sauce, silky pasta and sharp parmesan cheese – it’s a burst of flavour in every mouthful and couldn’t be easier to prepare.
This Week
2 Dec - 8 Dec
Mediterranean Tomato Pasta with Olives, Capers and Chilli
- Under 30 minutes
- 4
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Meal Prep Guide
Prepare the vegetables (store together in an airtight container in the fridge).
- Dice 1 capsicum and 1 zucchini.
Tips
- Reserve your pasta water! Pasta water is filled with starch and salt which creates cloudy, murky water but is the key to a creamy sauce. Together the starch and the salt add flavour and depth to the pasta sauce as well as acting as a thickening agent.
Shortcuts
Vegetables
- Add some diced eggplant when you add the capsicum and zucchini.
Protein
- You can add a couple of anchovies to the sauce to turn this into a puttanesca style pasta. Simply add two anchovies with the olive oil and dried oregano and cook until melted down, before adding the onion.
Other
- Swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta or zucchini noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 red onion (diced)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 capsicum (diced)
- 1 zucchini (diced)
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- ¼ cup kalamata olives (pitted and roughly chopped)
- 2 Tbsp capers
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 400g tin crushed tomatoes
- 300g pasta (we used tagliatelle)
- ½ cup pasta water
- Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Side salad
- ½ bag (60g) rocket
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Method
- Heat a large pan or saute dish over medium heat. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, dried oregano and onion.
- Cook for a few minutes until the onions start to soften, then add the capsicum, zucchini and a little more olive oil if needed and cook for another 10 minutes, or until starting to turn golden brown and caramelise.
- Add the garlic, olives, capers, chilli flakes, coconut sugar and cook for a few minutes before adding the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.
- Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, pop the lid on and let the sauce simmer away while you cook the pasta.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season generously with salt. Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions, once cooked reserve ½ cup of the pasta water.
- Remove the lid from the sauce and add in the pasta, along with the pasta water, tossing well to make sure all of the pasta is well coated in the sauce.
- Add the rocket to a large bowl and drizzle over the olive oil and red wine vinegar.
- Serve the pasta topped with lots of grated parmesan, alongside the rocket salad.
Variations
Vegetables
- Add some diced eggplant when you add the capsicum and zucchini.
Protein
- You can add a couple of anchovies to the sauce to turn this into a puttanesca style pasta. Simply add two anchovies with the olive oil and dried oregano and cook until melted down, before adding the onion.
Other
- Swap out the pasta for gluten-free pasta or zucchini noodles.
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