Rigatoni with olives, peppers and ricotta – easy mid-week meal

Pasta always comes to the rescue when you need a quick and easy dinner. It is March and in this part of the world we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.. yes it will be spring soon.. more sunshine, more time outdoors and lots delicious fresh vegetables like peas and asparagus. I cannot wait!

For the time being I am happy to cook with what I can find at my local greengrocers. A light Mediterranean pasta dish with olives, peppers, capers and a little ricotta on top was heaven on a plate today. Light, nutritious and meat free, which is nice.

It goes without saying that you always need to use good quality extra virgin olive oil especially when it comes to light dishes like these; good olive oil with enhance the flavour of the vegetables bringing this dish to a different level.

Buon Appetito.

• Prep Time : 15 minutes
• Cook Time : 25 minutes
• Yield : 4

Ingredients

• Rigatoni pasta (or other pasta of your choice) – 350 g – 3 + 1/2 cup
• green olives pitted – 100 g – just over 1/2 cup
• black olives pitted – 100 g – just over 1/2 cup
• capers – 1 tbsp
• peppers – 2
• olive oil
• dried oregano – 1 tsp
• basil leaves – handful
• garlic cloves – 2
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Bring to the boil a sauce pan of water.

Wash, cut the peppers in half and remove seeds and filaments.

Slice them into strips. Stir fry the garlic cloves in a pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the sliced peppers and roast them for 2 to 3 minutes without the lid on. Slice the olives and add them to the peppers with 1 tsp of dried oregano, salt and pepper, the capers and 4 or 5 basil leaves. Cook for about 20 minutes with the lid on over a gentle heat until the peppers are soft. You might need to add a little bit of water if you find that the peppers get a little dry.

Cook the pasta al dente in salty boiling water.

Drain and stir in the peppers and olives with the pasta and drizzle a little olive oil on top.

Serve with the ricotta flakes. Decorate with basil leaves.

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