Orecchiette alle Olive {Orecchiette with Olives}
Orecchiette might be one of my favorite types of pasta evah! Maybe because Orecchiette means little ears in Italian. Maybe because they’re the perfect shape for holding the sauce. Maybe just because they’re adorable. Chissa {who knows} I just like them and I use them every time I can!
If you like olives {and we certainly do} you’ll like this sauce. Luckily it has both black and green olives so you don’t have to choose. You can see from the picture that it also has nuts. Yes, nuts and olives. But we didn’t stop there it also has red chili pepper! This sauce is full of flavor levels and they play nicely together. You’ll taste each and every one of them and they will be harmonious and not at all chaos in your mouth.
Trick is chopping the olives, garlic and nuts as finely as possible. You want some texture but you don’t want chunks. This will be the hardest part of the dish. I may be one of the few but I really enjoy chopping, it’s quite therapeutic for me. I must admit that having a super sharp and sleek chefs knife {and I can’t forget sexy} makes it go along much quicker. A good knife is a good investment!
Have the rest of your mis en place {fancy schmancy French term for having all your ingredients ready} nearby and this dish will go by quickly. If you happen to like things a little spicier then feel free to chuck a larger piece of chili pepper into the oil.
This is a beatiful creamy mix of multiple flavors, and you’ll enjoy tasting each one!
Baci!
What you’ll need:
1 pound Orecchiette Pasta
6 ounces black olives – finely chopped
2 ounces green olives – finely chopped
2 ounces pecans or walnuts – finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1″ piece of red chili pepper – seeds removed
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
pinch marjoram
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
salt
What to do:
1. Finely chop the olives, ONE clove of garlic and nuts. Set aside.
2. Place the butter, 1 clove of crushed garlic and chili pepper into a large saute pan over low heat. Allow butter to melt and flavor itself with the garlic and chili pepper. Discard garlic and chili pepper once butter has been adequately infused with flavors. Add the breadcrumbs to the butter and mix well to combine.
3. Place the chopped olives, garlic and nuts mixture into the butter. Add the white wine and saute over medium heat for approx 8-10 minutes.
4. WHILE the olive mixture is cooking, place a large pot of generously salted water onto boil. When water is boiling add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water in case needed. Drain pasta when al dente.
5. WHILE the pasta is cooking, add the cream and marjoram to the olive mixture and continue cooking on low heat. Check for seasoning. Add salt if necessary. Cook for just a few minutes and remove from heat.
6. When pasta is ready add pasta to olive mixture and stir well to combine. If mixture is too thick, add some of the pasta water until it’s add your desired consistency. Garnish with Parmigiano Reggiano if desired.
Buon Appetito!
All the olives and walnuts with this pasta then bathed in the butter, wine and cream looks divine!
Bon appetit!
=:~)
This looks yummy, but the photo is clearly of pecans instead of walnuts. I’m guessing it doesn’t really matter?
Hi Jen!
Thanks for letting me know {obviously I need more espresso this morning LOL} I’ve changed that to read pecans or walnuts. I use both depending on what I have on hand.
Oh YUMMY! I have some left over spicy olive mix from the weekend! I think I will make this today! YAY!
Pecans + olives = my new fave food combo!
this sounds incredible! orecchiette is one of my favorite pasta shapes ever! i can’t wait to try this…and maybe add mushrooms too!
Beautiful! I thought it was calamari at first – which would not be a bad substitute!
Orecchiette are so cute! The combo of nuts, olives, and spiciness sure sounds divine
.
~Kurious Kitteh
I’ve been following your posts for awhile now and am so impressed! Every one of them looks so beautiful and delicious. I recently had to give up gluten, and it’s such a struggle when I see pasta recipes like this one! I’ll definitely keep reading and working on GF pasta alternatives
Thanks Christine! I completely understand. We’ve had to remove gluten from our middle man’s diet and it’s not been easy. We really enjoy the Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Pasta Line. I’m hoping to conquer some gluten free homemade pasta soon : )
This looks fabulous. I’ll have to give it a whirl, as I’m an olive freak – one of my favorite pizzas is simply black olives and cheese.
I have never seen this combination before. I’ll have to give it a shot. Love all the ingredients.
What a beautiful dish, had to save this one:) The flavors are outstanding…
Looks beautiful and very delicious!
Wow! This looks great. I love Orecchiette! One of my favorites too! Must try this flavor combination. Sounds delicious!
Orecchiette are my husbands favorite pasta….this looks so good. I really like the idea of the olives and the nuts
I would kill to be able to eat this, probably anyways. It looks fantastic!
This is gorgeous!! Black olives are so addictive. Can you possibly drive two hours and bring me some? Scratch that I’ll come to you
and we can make some cheese to go with it.
I love Orecchiette, they are like hundreds of little bowls that hold all the yummy sauce! And when they hold black olives, they are even more heavenly! Thanks!
I love Orecchiette!
My wife & I can’t remember Orecchiette so the conversation usually goes along the lines of “Do you see the ears?”, “No, are we out of ears?” … and everybody gives us strange looks!
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