Saturday, February 3, 2007

Broccoli, Tomato and Olive Pasta & Spice It Up Seasoning

This pasta is way yummier than it looks in this photo. This is such a quick and easy dinner to make and involves hardly any dishes and barely any cooking. Basically you just cook the pasta and then throw the other stuff in the pot and mix round. Not really a recipe, but here it is anyway...

Broccoli, Tomato and Olive Pasta (serves 2)
1 ½ cups dry whole wheat pasta
1 ½ cups broccoli
1 tbsp oil (I used ½ hemp seed oil, ½ olive oil)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
5 small tomatoes, roughly chopped
15 green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste

Cook pasta in boiling water as per packet instructions. About 3 minutes from end of cooking time add broccoli to pot. When pasta is done, drain and return pot to stove over very low heat. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover and heat through for a minute or two, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are warmed through.
I have also used spinach in place of broccoli. You could substitute any green vegetable you like.
If you have bought olives with pits in, the easiest (and most fun!) way to pit them is to lay the blade of a large knife over the olive on a flat, solid surface and give it a good thump with your fist. The olive probably won’t look too pretty, but for a dish likes this it doesn’t matter. And it’s a good way to get out your frustrations...take that little olive!!

This is Fiddes Payne Spice It Up All Purpose Seasoning...I love this stuff on pretty much any pasta dish. My friend introduced me to it when I went to hers for dinner one day years ago and now Wee G and I both love it. I have only seen it in the stores in the UK, but I see you can buy it online in the U.S. here. Just a little amount livens up any dish. I have tried buying the individual spices and making my own, but for some reason it just doesn’t come out the same. If you are going to use this seasoning, then don’t add any salt to the pasta as the main ingredient of this is salt.

2 comments:

urban vegan said...

Yummier than in the photo? It already looks pretty darn yummy--so it must be fantastic.

Linda said...

yum. thanks for sharing! looks very flavorful!