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Lately I’ve been struggling with an obsession. It’s called olives. I cannot stop thinking about them, and I cannot stop popping them in my mouth. What is happening to me? I hate olives! This just goes to show that food preferences CAN change. First it was cilantro, and now this.
As someone who swells up in the face easily and resembles a Jigglypuff (my lil’ brother was obsessed with Pokemon…don’t judge), whenever excessive sodium is introduced into the body, I try to stay away from salty foods as much as possible. Not this time, I suppose. To help with portion control, I decided to incorporate them into various dishes, Pasta Puttanesca being one of them.
Pasta Puttanesca with Arugula
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 anchovies, rinsed and chopped
- 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes and their juice, preferably no salt added
- 1/2 cup chopped, pitted Kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 cup freshly chopped arugula
- Toppings:
- Parmesan cheese, crumbled w/fork
- Basil leaves
- Fresh arugula, optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water with salt until barely al dente.
- While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onion, garlic, anchovies, and red bell pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant and onion is slightly caramelized, about 2-4 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and their juice, breaking them up by hand. Stir in capers and olives. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until thickened, approx 8-10 min. Stir in arugula and simmer for a minute until slightly wilted.
- When pasta is done, drain and add to skillet, tossing it with sauce to combine. Top with crumbled cheese and torn basil.
I’m not a fan of olives, but I was also not a fan of avocado until this year. I normally sub them out with capers, so I’d probably just leave them out in this recipe. It looks amazing!