Castelvetrano olives are a real joy. I discovered them in the Olive Bar at our local Heinan’s grocery store and have become addicted. They are buttery in flavor and not overly salty. They are great for snacking or in recipes. (Buy from the olive bar, the bottled ones are a little too briny.) So here’s a recipe I came up with to use them for a quick, but elegant dinner. I’ve made this 4 or 5 times in the past couple of months, so it’s time to add it to the website.
Tortellini with Castelvetrano Olives, Grape Tomatoes, & Basil
Ingredients
- Pasta - 20 oz. fresh cheese tortellini
- 1 large shallot, finely diced (about ¾ cup)
- 2 large Jalapeno peppers, finely diced
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 10 oz. package grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 ½ cups Castelvetrano olives, pitted and quartered
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1.5 oz. fresh basil, chopped (About 1 cup loose)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook pasta. Reserve ½ to 1 cup of water.
- Saute shallots, jalapeno peppers, and garlic in olive oil until translucent and slightly brown.
- Add halved grape tomatoes and pitted and quartered Castelvetrano olives and saute just a little bit.
- Add pasta water and parmesan and mix until slightly thickened.
- Mix with pasta and fresh chopped basil and serve.
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