Penne with sun-dried tomato pesto and black olives

Who doesn’t love pasta? Italian food has to be one of my all time favourite cuisines in the world. The ethos is to use simple but the best ingredients you can get your hands on. Get good quality pasta rather than the cheapest in your supermarket. Source the best olive oil you can find and you are already half way to making extremely good Italian food. I use sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper instead of the table salt and pepper variety, trust me you really can taste the difference. Fresh herbs is also an essential secret of mine, get your hands on some fresh Italian basil to put this dish into over-drive!

This recipe has to be one of the easiest and most rewarding dishes ever. You can make it all under 15-20 minutes and marvel in delight that you didn’t spend a fortune in a restaurant for something similar. Get those creative juices flowing and start cooking!

To get yourself ready (I have to stress this again), source good ingredients. Get the best penne pasta out there, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, sun dried tomato pesto, fresh Italian basil, extra virgin olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.

Boil the pasta until al dente (10-12 min), mix in the olives and sun-dried tomatoes, then the pesto. Season well with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Top it off with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves. If you like a bit of heat, add some dried chilli flakes on top. Enjoy this dish with a fresh salad and a crisp glass of white wine. Bellissimo!

 

READY TO COOK?

1. Fill a large pot half way with water, add a tea-spoon of salt and splash of olive oil, then bring to the boil.
2. Put the pasta into the water and set to a medium heat. Cook according to packet instructions until al dente.
3. Drain the pasta and bring it back to the pot.
4. Add a splash of olive oil and stir in the olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
5. Add the pesto paste and stir well. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
6. Pop the pasta mix on a large serving dish.
7. Shave a ton of Parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle basil leaves all over the pasta.
8. Serve with extra parmesan on the side.

INGREDIENTS

• 350g penne pasta (fresh or good quality dried)
• 1 tin of black olives (pitted)
• 1 small jar of sun-dried tomatoes (roughly chopped)
• extra virgin olive oil (the best you can get)
• 1 hand-full of fresh basil leaves
• 1 jar of sun-dried tomato pesto
• 40g Parmesan cheese (and extra on side)
• sea salt and black pepper