Mediterranean Orecchiette With White Beans Tomatoes

This post is sponsored by Pearls Olives. All opinions are my own. On busy weeknights, especially since we’re back to school now, I can always count on pasta for a quick and delicious dinner everyone will enjoy. To me, pasta dinners are also a great way to use what produce and pantry staples I have on hand to make things interesting without too much work. Enter today’s fun orecchiette recipe, loaded with fresh tomatoes, garlic, herbs, peppery arugula, white beans—for a little plant-based protein—and Pearls Kalamata Pitted Greek Olives, one of my favorite ways to add instant flavor! As much as I love a classic marinara sauce, there are enough layers in this white bean pasta that a lighter sauce with good olive oil and a splash of white wine is just right.

Orecchiette Pasta

Orecchiette–pronounced oh-reck-ee-ET-tay–translates to “little ears” in Italian. Not to be confused with shells, this round pasta that resembles a cup comes from southern Italy, and specifically Puglia, where it is often served with chunks of chopped greens or veggies. You’ll often see orecchiette recipes with broccoli rabe, for example I find orecchiette’s fun shape perfect for this white bean pasta recipe because it will nicely catch the chunks of beans and tomatoes. But if you don’t have it, farfalle, penne, or another short pasta with some texture, are all good substitutions for orecchiette in this recipe. The draw is in the layers of flavors, and for me, an olive lover, Pearls Kalamata Pitted Greek Olives are key in this delicious pasta dinner.

Pearls Kalamata Olives

I use Pearls Olives often to add flavor, especially on pizza and pasta dishes. And because they are 100% grown and packed in sunny California, picked at the peak of freshness, you can truly taste the difference. And I love the fact that Pearls takes care of the earth, running a 99% zero waste facility and recycling more than 2 billion gallons of water! For this particular recipe, their pitted Kalamata Pitted Greek Olives are the perfect match to the other Mediterranean flavors I use. These hand-picked, hand-crafted purple gems have a firm texture, and they burst with rich, fruity flavor, adding a little something special to this vegetarian orecchiette recipe.

How to make this orecchiette recipe

This dish takes just a few simple steps, starting with cooking the pasta and creating the sauce, then tossing in the rest of the ingredients at different stages. Here is how:

Once you get your orecchiette in the boiling water for a few minutes, you can get started on creating the sauce by sautéing fresh garlic and onions, seasoned with thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes, in some good extra virgin olive oil. Then, to add the white wine and lemon juice with a bit of the pasta cooking water. To the sauce, add the white beans (from a can) and chopped tomatoes and cook for a little while until warmed through and softened (about 5 minutes). Finally, toss in the pasta and finish with the arugula, olives, and bits of creamy feta (you can omit the feta if you want to keep this dinner vegan).