This artichoke & olives balsamic pasta is a quick an easy vegetarian meal with big taste! Only a few ingredients needed and you have a healthy, tasty pasta dinner in 20 minutes.
Along time ago I remember my aunt making a delicious balsamic pasta that was full of garlic and olives and …well I can’t remember anything else. I remember it was delicious but I was too lazy to call her for the recipe so I just made up my own! Boy was this good. I used a lot of pantry ingredients like artichokes and greek olives as well as balsamic vinegar and apricot jam. Yes apricot jam. I’m enamored with apricot jam lately. I used it on my poblano grilled cheese and in an upcoming post as well. Anyway, I am very please how my artichoke & olives balsamic pasta came out and I will be making this again soon!
This recipe can be finished in the time it takes to boil the pasta. The olives and peppers I got at the antipasto bar at my grocery store. I loaded up on olives, peppadews (sweet peppers) and roasted peppers. I used a jar of marinated artichokes and apricot jam that I had in the pantry too. The sweetness of the apricot jam balances out the tangy balsamic vinegar.
To make this pasta, all you need is to get your water boiling for the pasta. In a large saute pan, add garlic and balsamic vinegar and cook for a few minutes. Then add butter and apricot jam and wisk until the jam is melted. Lastly add in the artichokes, olives and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes. by then your pasta should be done, so drain that and reserve a little of the water. Add the pasta and water to the saute pan and mix well. Sprinkle fresh basil and grated cheese on top and you are ready to go!
Artichoke & Olives Balsamic Pasta
This pasta dinner is full of flavor. My husband really liked it and it was a nice change of pace to have a vegetarian dinnere. As I said above, it doesn’t take many ingredients and very little time to make this delicious dish so I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!
Artichoke & Olives Balsamic Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta
- ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tablespoon garlic crushed
- 1 ½ tablespoon apricot jam
- 2 cups chopped olives and peppers I used green, kalamata, peppadew peppers
- 1 12 oz jar of artichokes quartered
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- asiago cheese optional
Instructions
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Make your pasta.
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While the water is boiling and pasta is cooking, get out a large saute pan and add the vinegar and garlic. Cook for a few minutes.
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Add the butter and jam, whisking to incorporate until the jam melts and is well combined.
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Pour in the chopped peppers, olives and artichokes.
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Drain the pasta and retain a bit of the water, about ½ cup.
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Add pasta and water to the olive mixture and mix well to incorporate.
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Take off the stove and sprinkle fresh basil and add grated cheese if using.
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Serve immediately.
More Pasta Dishes To Try!
Kate
Heck yes! This recipe sounds amaaaaazing! I love simple pasta dishes like this. And even more so when there is artichoke hearts. I eat those things almost everyday! They are so good! Can’t wait to try this. I’m intrigued about the addition of apricot jam. Pinned it to try in the next few weeks! 🙂
Denise
Hi Kate,
I love artichoke heart too! The jam and balsamic together gives it that sweet and sour taste and the butter mellows it out. It’s really quite good and I hope you enjoy it!
Lynn Kelley
Hi, your recipe sounds really good. Is there a way to turn it into a cold pasta salad?
Denise
Hi Lynn,
I have never made this a cold pasta dish before, however I think it would work. I would make the pasta and the sauce mixture separately and then chill them both before mixing together. Then refrigerate until ready to eat. That way I think the pasta won’t soak up so much of the sauce. I hope that helps and please let me know if you try it!