Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta

5 from 4 votes

This Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta is a healthy weeknight dinner! It's made with spinach, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, garlic, and Parmesan.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Keyword: Mediterranean pasta, Mediterranean veggie pasta, gluten free vegetarian pasta

Servings:

Calories: 459kcal

Author: Christine Rooney

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil
5 roma tomatoes can use 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes, or 1 can of drained diced tomatoes
2 packed cups spinach or hearty greens of choice
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives chopped
½ cup Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
1 package gluten free short pasta such as fusilli, rotini, penne, or farfalle
½ tsp. kosher salt split
½ tsp. pepper split
fresh basil for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mince 6 cloves of garlic.
Dice 5 Roma tomatoes. Make sure the tomatoes are roughly the same size to ensure that they cook down evenly. (Feel free to use grape, cherry, or any variety of tomatoes that have a low moisture content).
Alternately, you can use 1 can of drained, diced tomatoes.
Roughly chop 2 packed cups of fresh spinach (or leafy greens of choice, such as kale, Swiss chard, or arugula).
Chop 1 cup of pitted Kalamata olives into halves.
Grate ½ cup of Parmesan (or Asiago or Romano) cheese.
Place a large skillet onto the stovetop and heat to medium-high. Once heated, add 2 Tbsp. olive oil to the skillet. Add the diced tomatoes, along with ¼ tsp. kosher salt and pepper.
Sauté the tomatoes for 8-10 minutes, or until they have cooked down. Stir the tomatoes occasionally as they cook. Add the minced garlic 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Sauté the garlic and tomatoes until the garlic is fragrant.
Prepare 1 package of gluten free short pasta (or regular short pasta if not gluten free) and cook just until al dente. If using gluten free pasta, place the cooked pasta in a strainer, drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
Rinsing the pasta is not necessary if using regular pasta.
After the tomatoes are cooked down, add the drained (and rinsed) pasta, along with the chopped spinach, Kalamata olives, ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, and another ¼ tsp. kosher salt and pepper.
Stir all of these ingredients together just until combined (being careful not to break apart the pasta if gluten free). Cook the pasta for another 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted and the cheese melted.
To Serve: Serve pasta with some freshly torn basil leaves (or fresh herbs of choice) and some extra grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

See copy above for tips to achieve optimal taste and texture when cooking gluten free pasta.

Any brand of high quality short pasta (gluten free or otherwise) may be used to make this recipe.

Nutrition