Simple Mediterranean Olive Oil Pasta

This simple olive oil pasta recipe takes inspiration from the popular Naples dish called spaghetti aglio e olio, which translates to spaghetti with garlic and oil. In a typical spaghetti aglio e olio recipe, pasta is coated in a simple garlic-olive oil sauce, then garnished with parsley and, sometimes, grated Parmesan. But this Mediterranean olive oil pasta goes just a little bit further, by adding a few favorite ingredients like grape tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, feta and olives.

A couple of tips for this olive oil pasta

First, this dish makes a feature of extra virgin olive oil and relies heavily on its flavor. The oil is briefly heated through, but not cooked. That’s why, you’ll want to use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford. Remember, oils that are simply labeled “pure” have usually been heat-treated and refined by mechanical means and, consequently, lack character and flavor.

Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For this recipe, I always use our Greek Early Harvest extra virgin olive oil. It is organically grown and processed from native Koroneiki olives, which are hand-picked early in the season while still green, and processed within ours to make this prized ‘liquid gold’ they call ‘agoureleo.’ Our Early Harvest oil is an exquisite cold extracted and unfiltered oil with a perfectly balanced complexity— rich green, fruity and pungent with a peppery finish. Our oil features exceptionally high levels of polyphenols and low acidity of less than 0.35%. Read more about our Early Harvest oil here! It makes a ton of difference in dishes like this Mediterranean olive oil pasta.

Secondly, when making the sauce, do not allow the garlic to brown, it will taint its flavor. If it does brown or burn, you’ll need to toss it and start over. Of course, if you’re in the mood for something saucy, be sure to check out my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe!