My Pasta

Sometimes you just don't feel like cooking. Those times are rare for me but when they strike, they strike hard. I look at my fridge with dread. Sometimes my lovey love makes me a stir fry while I sit on a stool, drinking beer and watching. Other times I just munch until I'm full. Or I grudgingly cook something up and eat it just because I'm hungry, not because I feel like it. In times like this, it's good to have a few stand bys that are easy, come together quickly and without much thought, and are made of items that you always have. Well, I always have olive oil, pasta, and kalamata olives. So when I can't be bothered to be creative, or when I just want something familiar and comforting, I whip out this quick pasta dish.

It is based on a recipe from Moosewood's Simple Suppers. Really loosely based. I skip most of the steps and ingredients, or change the ingredients around for an always delicious pasta dish. So this isn't really a recipe, but more of a suggestion.

In it's most bare bones form, the dish is pasta tossed with olive oil and about a handful of roughly chopped olives. I usually use just kalamata olives, but a combination of olives is also tasty. If you are feeling fancier, or have any of these other ingredients around, you can add some toasted pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. In the summer I throw in some roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, and maybe some parsley if I'm feeling really fancy.

This pasta is delicious no matter what combination of these ingredients you put in, or in what quantities. The only time I screwed it up was when I made it for Tim. It was the first time I made him dinner and I was soooooo nervous that I overcooked and over oiled the pasta, and let my re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes get cold before putting them in. The dish was mushy, coldish, and oily.

But I'm sure that won't happen to you. Just don't be nervous and it will turn out well.