Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca

Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca is an incredibly easy pasta dish to make. Our version skips the anchovies that often appear in puttanesca and swaps the traditional black olives for bright green olives for a simple dish you will want to make again and again.

What is in Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca?

This dish is very simple. It contains:

• Pasta-I used angel hair pasta when I created this recipe; however traditional spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine noodles would also work great.
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder– I used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic in this recipe to try to stick with the pantry-friendly vibe of this pasta dish. If you prefer, you could substitute 1-2 cloves of freshly minced garlic.
• Green Olives-I used manzanilla olives for this pasta. If you prefer you could use Spanish Queen olives.
• Shallot
• Chile Flakes-optional, but recommended. If you are serving to kids, you may wish to limit or skip the hot peppers, if it is just for adults or heat-lovers, pile it on!
• Marinara Sauce-I made this dish using premade marinara sauce. I used this one.
• Butter– I always like to use olive oil butter; however, any butter you prefer will work just fine.
• Parmesan Cheese– either grated or shredded parmesan will work fine for this pasta dish.

Can Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca be made Vegan or Vegetarian.

The dish is vegetarian as written, so if you are a vegetarian you are good to go with no changes.

To make this dish vegan you will need to substitute the parmesan cheese with a vegan-friendly alternative such as nutritional yeast.

Ways To Customize Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca

Shallot can be replaced with diced onions if you prefer

Garlic Powder you could swap with 4 cloves of minced garlic

Olives Personally green olives are beyond my favorite but if you prefer, black or Kalamata olives could be swapped

Red Pepper Flakes If you don’t like spice these could be omitted. If you want a substitute, a diced chili pepper (sautéed with the shallot) could be a good swap. You could probably substitute a few dashes of hot sauce, though I have not tried this yet.

Pasta I selected angel hair pasta for this dish as it is my favorite with these toppings as the thinner noodles hold the sauce very well. If you wanted to substitute some good alternatives would be spaghetti, rotini or small shells; however, really any noodle that is your favorite would work.

Marinara I used a my favorite pre-made marinara. Any brand of sauce you like would work. Homemade marinara sauce would also work. To make the dish have a little more spice, consider using an Arrabiata sauce.

Cheese I used freshly shredded parmesan cheese. You could consider swapping pre-shredded parmesan cheese or even grated parmesan. Some asiago or fontina could also be a good alternative.

What to serve with Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca

Here are some ideas:

• Try our Rosemary Sea Salt Bread
• Make a simple salad of Arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, parmesan, salt & pepper
• Some roasted vegetables such as our Lemon Roasted Vegetables
• Some simple protein like grilled chicken, shrimp or fish

Does Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca work for Meal Prep or Make Ahead

YES! This dish is fine to make in advance. It will keep well for 2-3 days so it would be an excellent choice for a meal-prep or make ahead meal.

Green Olive Pasta Puttanesca

Anne

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 16 ounces angel hair pasta
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 ounces green olives divided
• 1 shallot
• Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 28 ounces Marinara Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Butter I used olive oil blend
• 1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions

 

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel and thinly slice the shallot. Roughly chop the olives.
• Cook the pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/2c of pasta water, then drain.
• Heat oil in a large pan over medium. Add half of the olives, the garlic powder and the shallot. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add the chili pepper flakes for 15 seconds. Add marinara with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
• Add angel hair to the sauce, stirring to coat. Stir in half of the parmesan and the butter. Add remaining pasta water 1Tbs at a time if the sauce seems too thick. Season with salt and pepper.