Funky Spaghetti

Funky spaghetti is a cross between warm salad and tasty linguine, with tomatoes, olives and fresh basil! Serve it as a main course or side dish.

I wish I could remember when I first heard the name Jamie Oliver.  Certainly I watched his first series, The Naked Chef not long after arriving in Malaysia, so possibly as early as 2002. 

But I distinctly remember watching the Oprah show in 2003 when he made his first appearance and cooked this dish, with the help of some picky eater children.  It’s so fast that I was sort of expecting it to make an appearance in his new 30-Minutes Meals which my wonderful, kind and generous friend, Jane, has recently lent me.  But it didn’t.

It’s still one of the fastest and most delightful dishes around.  The little bit of prep that is required is easily done in the time the pasta cooks.  And in under 15 minutes, dinner is served. (N.B. My adaptation is probably NOT suitable for picky eater children!)

Funky Spaghetti

My recipe was adapted from this one by Jamie Oliver on the Oprah Winfrey website. It serves 3-4 (or more as a side dish.)

Ingredients

1 pound or 500g linguine

10 ounces or 300g baby plum tomatoes, red and yellow, preferably at room temperature

2 handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked, and chopped if rather large.

6 to 8 glugs extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic (peeled and finely chopped)

Good splash, or even two, of balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

5-6 Greek-style (read: really salty) black olives

2 small hot green chilies, chopped very fine.

Method

Put a large pot of water on to boil. While your water is coming to a boil, halve tomatoes.  Depending on the size of your little tomatoes, you might want to quarter them.  

Put pasta in the boiling water and cook until al dente.  While the pasta is cooking, add the garlic and chilies to a bowl with the vinegar. 

Add the tomatoes to the bowl and scrunch them until slightly mushed.  Season to taste with the salt and pepper.  

 Pit your olives and chop them up and add them to the bowl.

Cut the basil finely and add to the bowl. 

Pour on the olive oil and give it all a good stir. 

Drain pasta, and while still steaming, mix with tomatoes.

Separate onto plates and serve. 

Enjoy!