Description
Anyone else love a good flavor bomb? If so, you’ve got to try this pesto pasta with olives, mushrooms and artichokes. Highly customizable with lots of add-on options.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 pound of linguine (see note #1)
- 2 heaping tablespoons of garlic, finely diced
- 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 6.5-ounce jar of artichoke hearts
- 1 cup of Kalamata olives (7-ounce container)
- 1 5-ounce package sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 3/4 cup of pesto
- 1/2 cup shaker parmesan cheese, optional
- Olive oil (amounts are below in instructions)
- salt and pepper as needed
Optional add-ons:
- Toasted pine nuts
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Mini mozzarella balls
- Fresh grated parmesan, garnish
- Sautéed eggplant
- chopped parsley, garnish
NOTE: for the artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms and pesto you can add more or less if you want depending on your taste preference.
Instructions
- Fill a pot with water and heat on high until boiling. Salt the water with a couple of teaspoons of salt.
- Finely dice the garlic.
- Finely dice the onion.
- With the mushrooms, make sure to wash them thoroughly, then blot dry with a paper towel.
- Drain the liquid from the olive container and rough chop the olives.
- Drain the liquid from the artichoke jar and rough chop the artichokes.
- Measure out the pesto and set aside.
- If you are using the optional toasted pine nuts, heat them in a small pan on low heat for about 5 minutes until they start turning golden brown.
- Once the prep is done, your water should be boiling. Add the linguine to the water and cook per box instructions.
- In a large pan on medium heat, add a little olive oil (a teaspoon or so spread over bottom of pan). Let the pan get hot, then add the mushrooms. Spread them out to lay flat and don’t overlap them. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper (maybe 1/8 of teaspoon each). Cook for about 2-3 minutes like this.
- After 2-3 minutes, stir the mushrooms around pan and push to one side.
- Add onions to pan with a splash of olive oil. Stir onions and cook for a minute or two on their own. Then mix to combine with the mushrooms and cook about another 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the center of the pan with a splash of olive oil and cook for 30-60 seconds on its own. Then mix the garlic to combine with the mushrooms and onions for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the artichokes and olives to the pan with the mushroom mixture and stir another 1-2 minutes and it’s done.
- The pasta should be ready. I strained the pasta and while it’s still in the colander, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and toss the linguine. I do this to coat the pasta and to make sure it doesn’t stick together.
- Add the linguine to a large mixing bowl. Transfer the mushroom mixture to that bowl along with the pesto. If you want more pesto than what I used – add more based on your preference.
- Using kitchen tongs and a wooden spoon toss the pasta thoroughly to combine all the ingredients.
- Add the shaker parmesan cheese and toss again.
- If you feel the pasta needs more moisture, add ½ cup of warm water and/or a 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. I ended up adding ½ cup of warm water and it worked great. It should be noted, that with some pasta dishes adding the pasta water is recommended. I felt with the salt from the olives and pesto and other items that had been salted – salted pasta water would have been too much salt.
- Once the pasta has been tossed and ingredients fully combined – you’re ready to serve. This pasta tastes amazing as-is. Add-ons are great too. Serve any add-ons, from above list, on the side and everyone can customize their plates. My video shows this well.
Notes
- Linguine or spaghetti works great for this. You could also use penne or rigatoni. Since this is a tossed pasta, an angel hair or vermicelli will not work well because it is too delicate.