Meatless Monday with Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Tomatoes

Welcome (back) and thank you for joining us for another Meatless Monday. As a green call centre, we support the Meatless Monday movement in support of reducing meat consumption to improve personal and planetary health.

Our recipe today is for Mediterranean pasta with artichokes, olives, and tomatoes. This is a delicious new pasta dish full of rich, bold flavours and it’s good for you too. Amazingly this dish can be prepared from start to finish in less than forty minutes, which makes it a great weeknight meal. This recipe uses whole wheat pasta and “Whole-wheat pasta has almost twice the amount of fiber” and comes courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Whole Living. Let’s get cooking.

INGREDIENTS
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced, lengthwise
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and quartered lengthwise1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes , halved lengthwise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more serving (vegans can exchange for vegan parmesan or omit)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Return pasta to pot.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook, stirring occasionally until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Stir in artichokes and cook until starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add olives and half of the tomatoes; cook until tomatoes start to break down, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pasta to skillet. Stir in remaining tomatoes, oil, cheese, and basil. Thin with reserved pasta water if necessary to coat the spaghetti. Serve with additional cheese.

If you have wheat sensitivities, you can always use brown rice spaghetti.

This flavorful pasta dish will yield four servings but can be adjusted easily if you are feeding more people on a Meatless Monday or any day of the week.  It is a fast, easy and healthy dish that is full of bold flavours so try out this tasty dish and serve with a  green salad dressed with an Italian or balsamic vinaigrette.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit meatlessmonday.com to learn more. Join the movement and promote taking the Meatless on Monday pledge to co-workers and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Enjoy!