Double Olive Pasta

There’s nothing quite like fresh pasta in its many forms. The texture is light and fluffy, and yet still durable to hold up to sauces and fillings.

But I must give credit also to the fabulous world of dried pastas. Whenever I’m shopping at a new store, I grab pastas with unique shapes and also flavors. Just for fun. Who wants to only cook spaghetti and elbow macaroni?

So a while back I was on the Open Sky website, and came across a company that sold gourmet food items called Valois Gourmet. (I hope the link works for everyone.)

There were two that I couldn’t resist buying – olive pasta and sweet potato pasta (not pictured).

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The pasta brand is Morelli, and is an Italian product. The pasta actually contains minced green olives, plus dehydrated spinach – perhaps for a little color.

Check out these pumpkin pie roasted almonds from Valois Gourmet, too! What a great nibble to have around during the holidays.

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In any case, to me, there’s nothing quite like a flavored dried pasta that speaks for itself, which is the case of this variety. Because of the olive flavor, so little else is needed. A little shallot or garlic, a little tomato, some capers, and maybe some extra olives for olive enhancement. And there’s always Parmesan. Simple.

So here’s what I did with this olive fettuccine.

Double Olive Pasta

Olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
3 shallots
1 – 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, well drained*
1 – 8.8 package pasta with olives
Sliced olives, I used a Mediterranean mixture
Capers, optional
Parsley, optional
Toasted pine nuts, optional
Grated Parmesan, optional

Place the olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute them for a few minutes.

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Then add the drained tomatoes.

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Cook the mixture until there almost no liquid remaining in the skillet; set aside.

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Cook the pasta according to directions on the package, which in this case was four minutes.

Have any of you used this handy silicone gadget that keeps boiling water from overflowing? It’s a miracle worker. I think about 4 out of 5 times that I cook pasta the boiling water overflows. And we all know that it’s not that easy to clean up. This product is made by Kuhn Rikon, and it’s called a spill stopper. It comes in two sizes. Just FYI.

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You have two options when you cook dried pasta. Firstly, if you cook it al dente, plan on adding some kind of liquid to the pasta dish once it’s tossed with the tomato mixture. This can be broth, some pasta water, or even cream. The pasta will continue to “cook” and absorb liquid.

Secondly, If you cook the pasta until soft all the way through, plan on tossing the pasta with the tomato mixture and serving immediately.

Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain well.

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Add the pasta to the skillet and toss everything together.

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Serve immediately if the pasta is fully cooked. If it isn’t, take about 15-30 minutes to add liquid of choice, and let the pasta soften in the liquid, adding as much liquid as necessary. Then serve.

Sprinkle the pasta with cheese, olives, capers, and parsley, if using any or all of these toppings.

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Normally I would add some cayenne pepper flakes to a similar pasta dish, but in this case, I want to enjoy the olive flavor from the pasta.

* If your canned tomatoes are good quality, make sure to save the tomato juice. If the canned tomatoes are in essentially water, don’t bother.

note: In the summer I would use fresh, peeled tomatoes for this pasta, and probably include fresh basil. But during the other months, canned tomatoes are a wonderful substitute – as long as you buy a high quality canned tomato.

verdict: I was truly impressed with this product! There is definitely an olive flavor. The pasta made for a lovely lunch, but for dinner I’d definitely serve it with some good sausages or pork tenderloin.

By Published On: October 27th, 201425 Comments on Double Olive Pasta

About the Author: Chef Mimi

As a self-taught home cook, with many years in the culinary profession, I am passionate about all things food-related. Especially eating!

25 Comments

  1. sallybr October 27, 2014 at 8:34 AM - Reply

    Hummm, I must take a look at this spill stopper, I HATE when I make a mess cooking pasta or even cauliflower (happened last week) –

    great pasta, I am addicted to olives in general – never met one I did not care for ;-)

    • chef mimi October 27, 2014 at 8:41 AM - Reply

      It’s really amazing. My girlfriend told me she wished she had four of them, for when she cooks big meals. I guess I’ll be buying her another one for Christmas!

      • sallybr October 30, 2014 at 8:06 AM

        Mimi, I had a huge spill while cooking black beans yesterday evening…. I thought about you……….. I need to get one of these.

  2. emmabarrett1508 October 27, 2014 at 9:32 AM - Reply

    Now that looks like my kind of comfort food. I have never seen pumpkin pie roasted almonds before. Wow! What a find! xx

    • chef mimi October 27, 2014 at 1:19 PM - Reply

      I know! They’d be easy to make – it’s just white chocolate with pumpkin pie spices!

  3. StefanGourmet October 27, 2014 at 1:08 PM - Reply

    It would be nice to make fresh olive flavored pasta. Agree on using canned tomatoes outside of summer. I think 15-30 minutes to finish cooking the pasta is a typo and you actually meant seconds?

    • chef mimi October 27, 2014 at 1:18 PM - Reply

      No, I meant minutes. I’m not talking any heat, however. Off the stove, the pasta still absorbs liquid, and I like to give it enough time to soften and absorbs flavors as well.

      • StefanGourmet October 27, 2014 at 3:20 PM

        Fascinating. It is pretty common to cook the pasta for a couple of minutes in the sauce or even to cook pasta like risotto with lots of stirring, but I had never heard of this before. I positively thought it was a typo!

  4. chef mimi October 27, 2014 at 3:27 PM - Reply

    I do use a lot of whole-grain pasta, which definitely requires more cooking time than the equivalent size and shape of processed wheat pasta, so that’s probably the 30 minutes that I’m talking about. But I also find that pasta absorbs cream much slower than water or oil. So many different factors!

  5. Conor Bofin October 27, 2014 at 4:06 PM - Reply

    Lovely looking pasta salad Mimi. To prevent pasta boiling over, I rest a wooden spoon on the top of the pot. That usually works for me. Though, if using a short pot, the spoon can get pretty hot.

    • chef mimi October 27, 2014 at 8:25 PM - Reply

      I’ve heard about that, but I need longer spoons!

  6. Julie is HostessAtHeart October 27, 2014 at 10:10 PM - Reply

    Beautiful dish! I love using flavored pasta too. They add great flavor.

  7. chefceaser October 28, 2014 at 8:32 AM - Reply

    Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.

  8. Our Growing Paynes October 28, 2014 at 11:14 AM - Reply

    I’ll have to look out for this pasta. I love olives. And great tip with adding a bit of broth to the pasta.

  9. dianeskitchentable October 28, 2014 at 5:25 PM - Reply

    Boy did you get some drool-worthy close ups for this post! The pasta as well as the way you’ve prepared it look terrific. I can’t tell you how many little packages of pretty pasta I stashed in my luggage while in Italy.
    Now about this spill saver thing – LOVE it. You only spill 4 out of 5 times? I’m good for 5 out of 5.

    • chef mimi October 28, 2014 at 5:26 PM - Reply

      And it makes such a mess. The spill saver thing comes in two sizes

      • dianeskitchentable October 28, 2014 at 6:14 PM

        well it’s certainly going on my list. Say, wouldn’t that make a great stocking stuffer?

      • chef mimi October 29, 2014 at 10:25 AM

        It might be a bit too big for a stocking, but it’s a great present!

  10. Choc Chip Uru October 28, 2014 at 6:47 PM - Reply

    What a flavoursome pasta, my whole family is crazy about olives :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    • chef mimi October 29, 2014 at 10:25 AM - Reply

      Olives are pretty fabulous, aren’t they?!

  11. Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs October 29, 2014 at 7:30 AM - Reply

    I loved this when I saw your photo on Facebook, and I love it even more now. This is simply beautiful, Mimi… I’m heading to that site to see if I can grab a bag or two of the olive pasta. I’ve had the pumpkin pie almonds, they’ve been passed around at work for the last couple of weeks, and we are enjoying them tremendously! Awesome post. <3

  12. love in the kitchen October 31, 2014 at 6:44 AM - Reply

    I love this dish Mimi – it’s way up my alley – simple, healthy and tasty. The best kind of food. Will have to see if I can find a similar pasta here.

    • chef mimi October 31, 2014 at 10:29 AM - Reply

      It was very good. I’d never seen olive pasta before!

  13. mmmarzipan November 1, 2014 at 4:41 PM - Reply

    Oh my gosh! Love this, Mimi! <3

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