Spaghetti with Grape Tomato and 3 Olive sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Vegetarian, Nut-free, Dairy-free, Gluten-free option (see notes)
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
  • 12 oz. uncooked spaghetti
  • ½ yellow onion, sliced thinly
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons of olive oil, divided
  • ¼ cup red wine
  • 3 tablespoons black olives, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons Kalamata olives, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons Castelvetrano olives, sliced (if you can’t find these, any green olive is fine, but these have the best flavor for this dish)
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Put tomatoes in a large bowl. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil and salt. Toss to coat.
  3. Rim a baking sheet with foil and arrange tomatoes on top.
  4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until “burst” (tomatoes are soft and skin is slightly charred). Set aside to cool.
  5. Fill a large pot with water. Heat to boiling then add pasta and a generous pinch of salt. Cook 9-10 minutes until al dente or according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup starchy pasta water then drain thoroughly and set aside.
  6. While pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to a medium skillet. Heat on medium high heat.
  7. When oil is hot, add garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add onion. Cook for 4-6 minutes until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
  8. While water is boiling, add “burst” tomatoes and their juices to the skillet. Stir and break up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
  9. Add red wine and stir until reduced.
  10. Add olives to sauce. Stir to combine.
  11. Add honey. Stir to combine.
  12. If using, add the crushed red chili flakes. Stir to combine.
  13. Add ½ cup of the reserved pasta water to the sauce. Stir. If the sauce still looks dry, add another ½ cup of water. Reduce heat to low. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  14. Finish the spaghetti in the sauce for 1 minute. Serve immediately.
Notes
This dish can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta. However, in this case, don’t finish the pasta in the sauce as gluten-free pastas tend to break up more easily.

This dish was designed to be dairy-free, but if you’d like, you can top the pasta with parmesan cheese. The brininess of the olives goes great with the nuttiness of a hard cheese like parmesan.
Recipe by A Bite of Inspiration at https://abiteofinspiration.com/2016/10/25/spaghetti-3-olives/