Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss

July 18, 2019
Super-simple, colorful, and flavorful, this Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss with Feta crumbles is a great meatless main dish or side.

Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss with Feta Crumbles Image

I absolutely love olives, and this super-easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss is one of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy them.  In fact, it's one of my go-to meals when I want something quick and easy, and totally flavorful.  (And it's totally colorful, too!)

Seriously, if you can chop and boil water, you can make this dish.

But let's take a little aside to talk about a funny story about olives for a minute, okay?  Having grown up in Vermont and now living in North Carolina, I had never seen olives growing until my Mom and I took a trip to Northern California wine country a few years back.

While roaming out-and-about visiting Sonoma wineries, we drove by acres upon acres of olive trees growing ... just like you'd see peach or apple trees growing in orchards here in the southeast.  We'd never seen olives growing, and we were in awe!

Well ... being the "curious"-type that we are, we decided to pull the car over and grab a few olives to try help the fine olive growers out by giving their product a taste test. So out of the car my Mom scurried to reach up and pick two olives for us to sample. 

Seriously, if you can chop and boil water, you can make this dish.

Well, did you know olives have to be curred before you eat them?

We didn't.  But now  we sure do.

Because we learned the hard way. 

Well, I guess actually, my Mom learned the hard way.

See, when she got in the car and handed me my olive, I proceeded to drop it on the floor.  In the five seconds or so I was fumbling around the floorboard trying to find my olive, my Mom popped hers in her mouth.

Those precious five seconds of fumbling saved me - Saved me from a horrible olive experience.

Though I can't say from personal experience, since the sound coming out of my Mom's mouth caused me to not  pop my olive in my mouth ... apparently, uncurred olives straight off the tree taste awful.  As for what exactly they taste like? - You'll have to ask my Mom.

So, the moral of this story is - Eat your olives curred by a professional. Let's just trust my Mom on that, okay?

Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss with Parsley Image

And now back to one of the best ways to enjoy those (properly-curred) olives - this super-easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss.

Now, remember I said that if you can chop and boil water, you can make this dish?  I'm totally serious.  The only thing you have to cook to make this is the pasta.

Cut some sweet bell peppers in strips and place them in the bottom of the colander you'll use to drain your cooked pasta. The boiling water will "cook" the peppers just a little bit.

To get started, you first go ahead and get your salted water going for cooking your pasta.  Cook the pasta as directed on the package.

While the pasta's cooking, cut some sweet bell peppers in strips and place them in the bottom of the colander you'll use to drain your cooked pasta.

Yes, place the pepper strips in your colander, like this:


Red and Yellow Pepper Strips in Colander to Make Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss Image

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it right over the peppers in your colander ... like this:

Draining Pasta Water Over Pepper Strips to Partially Cook Them Image

The boiling water from cooking the pasta will "cook" the peppers just a little bit, basically blanching them so they soften a teeny bit, but keep some crispness and their vibrant color.

And that's all the cooking required for this dish.  Seriously.

The rest of this dish's prep is simple chopping.

Sliced Olives, Tomatoes, and Chopped Parsley on Cutting Board Image

Toss the pasta and peppers with sliced olives, halved grape tomatoes, a bunch of chopped fresh parsley, and feta cheese crumbles.  Then drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil.

The freshness of the still-crisp bell peppers, sweetness of the grape tomatoes, saltiness from the sliced olives, and tang of the feta cheese crumbles combine to create one very tasty dish.

And there you have super colorful, super flavorful, and super easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss!  Complete with really yummy cured olives.

Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss with Grape Tomatoes Image
Thank you for stopping by The Kitchen is My Playground. We'd love to have you back soon!



easy recipe, easy dinner, peppers, olives, pasta, easy pasta recipe
Main Dishes
Yield: about 6 servings

Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss

Super-simple, colorful, and flavorful, this Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss with Feta crumbles is a great meatless main dish or side.
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 35 M

ingredients:

  • About 10 oz. penne or other pasta
  • 2 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers
  • 1 ¼ c. halved grape or cherry tomatoes (about 1 pint)
  • 3/4 c. sliced olives (green Manzanilla, kalamata, or a mix)
  • About 3/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 (4 oz.) package feta cheese crumbles with basil & sun dried tomatoes (OR with Mediterranean herbs)
  • About 3 T. extra virgin olive oil

instructions:

How to cook Easy Pepper & Olive Pasta Toss

  1. Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.
  2. Cut bell peppers into thin strips. Place the pepper strips in a colander; drain the pasta over the pepper to just cook it slightly with the hot pasta water.
  3. Place drained pasta and peppers in a large bowl. Add halved grape tomatoes, sliced olives, chopped parsley, and feta cheese crumbles; toss gently to combine.
  4. Drizzle with olive oil, and toss gently to coat.
Created using The Recipes Generator



12 comments

  1. This looks delicious! I love any sort of pasta salads that don't use mayonnaise! Thanks for the post!

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  2. This recipe looks great! I'm new to your site-just became a follower and love it! I'd love if you would check out my site as well and become a follower :)

    bakingblissful.blogspot.com

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  3. I am so glad that I saw this on the six Sisters blog hop. I am looking forward to trying this out.

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  4. Sounds like something I'd love! Got a chuckle out of your olive story:@)

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  5. This is beautiful... so colorful! Sounds like your mom took one for the team! What a cute story!
    Thank you so much for joining ON THE MENU MONDAY with this delicious recipe and cute story!

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  6. Hopping on over from Foodie Friday. Your pasta salad is gorgeous!! I would have never, ever, ever in a million years, thought about upcycling the pasta water to cook the peppers - brilliant technique and I can't wait to try it.... and um, this recipe will be gone about 5 minutes after I take my own picture. Pinning this now.

    Also, I'd like to introduce myself; I'm Erin, used to blog at EKat's Kitchen, but just launched my brand new blog - SalmonAtSeven.com and am celebrating with a launch giveaway. I'd love if you stopped by.

    I also love that you gave me the opportunity to use the word "upcycling."

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  7. This dish includes my favorite items. Great summer salad idea; Thanks!

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  8. Gorgeous photos! The colors are so vibrant.

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  9. Hi Tracey,
    This is a great salad, just perfect for a refreshing summertime evening. Hope you are having a fantastic week and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  10. Saw this on Gooseberry Patch and wanted to stop by and let you know how light and delicious it looks! I've bookmarked. Love that it's adapted from cooking light!

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  11. Looks delicious Tracey! This will be one of my features tomorrow at the Snickerdoodle link party!

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  12. What a beautiful and fresh dish!Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party.

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