Spaghetti al Pesto di Oliva

This recipe is from my cookbook, The Cook’s Garden, and utilises dried cherry tomatoes which have a marvellously intense flavour – you’ll find the recipe here. You can substitute with commercially dried tomatoes but they won’t have quite the same flavour.  Or use fresh cherry tomatoes. Some olive pastes are oilier than others so use your judgment when mixing it through the spaghetti.   Excellent with a big mixed green salad.

Inroduction

About this Recipe

By: Sheridan Rogers

This recipe is from my cookbook, The Cook’s Garden, and utilises dried cherry tomatoes which have a marvellously intense flavour – you’ll find the recipe here. You can substitute with commercially dried tomatoes but they won’t have quite the same flavour.  Or use fresh cherry tomatoes. Some olive pastes are oilier than others so use your judgment when mixing it through the spaghetti.   Excellent with a big mixed green salad.

Ingredients

  • spaghetti 400g
  • extra virgin olive oil 2 -3 tablespoons
  • garlic 2 cloves, finely chopped
  • black olive paste 2 -3 tablespoons
  • halved dried cherry tomatoes (or use fresh cherry tomatoes) as many as you like
  • soft goats cheese (or Persian feta) approx. 100g, roughly broken into pieces
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add 2 teaspoons salt and cook the spaghetti until al dente.  Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic until it sizzles. Be careful not to let it burn. Remove immediately from heat, stir in the olive paste and reserved pasta cooking water. Toss this mixture through the spaghetti. Add the dried cherry tomatoes, toss again, and carefully mix through the cheese. Season with black pepper and taste for salt – it probably won’t need much as the olive paste and cheese are salty. Serve immediately. Photography by Andrew Payne, Photographix