Spaghetti with Green Olives and Lemon Recipe -The Mad Scientists Kitchen

Name: Spaghetti with Green Olives and Lemon
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Ingredients: 500 grams spaghetti; 5 tbsp EVO (divided as 1+4); 8 garlic cloves (dived as 3+5); ¼ cup nuts (I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds); 1 tsp chilli flakes; 1 lemon; Basil leaves (i have not used but recommended); 100 g green olive (sliced); 5 tbsp cheddar cheese (grated); Salt to taste

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Flavourful spaghetti with a citrusy twist, this recipe brings forth the tantalising flavours of green olives, garlic and nuts sautéed in olive oil.

Finish off with lemon zest, cheese and chilli flakes for a quick and easy dinner plan.

Spaghetti with Green Olives and Lemon, a serving — Easy and Delicious Spaghetti

The reason for cooking Pasta today is that for Foodie Blog Hop Monday today Waagmi Soni of Cooking is Fun has asked us to use Lemons! Waagmi’s pictures are amazing! If I can click one picture like her I will be thrilled!! Don’t believe me? Check her last post with us Katori Chaat!

Anyway, since in this lifetime I will not be able to click like Waagmi but I can talk or rather write your ears off! So starting off!

Why do I love making pasta?

I love making pasta, the best part is even as your pasta is cooking your sauce gets ready, 20 minutes maximum is what it takes. Since I am the kind of cooks who cannot wait to get out of the kitchen this is a wonderful option!

The reasons pasta is a wonderful party dish!

If running out of the kitchen early does not persuade you that pasta is a wonderful dish for mankind.
The other reason is since you can be doubled and triples the ingredients without any effort it makes a great party meal too. Kids, Teens and Sane Adults love it!
The other reason is a little variation in sauces you can use the same pasta for all. Like the girls and I love Pesto, Arrabbiata, Marinara, Pesto Rosso. For hubby, it is plain old White Sauce! so for a party, I can make a variety of sauces with differently shaped pasta!
The winning reason is that now Akanksha cooks! Matter over!

Reasons for making this Spaghetti this way

Lemony Pasta is an easy and versatile dish, made with a creamy sauce of lemons and cream. But in the current conditions of lockdown where I feel we are not exercising enough, I did not want to use cream.
The girls did not want parmesan cheese (why am I not surprised)!
One did not want olives and zest but both agreed they wanted nuts!
So as a compromise we settled for cheddar cheese, walnuts and pumpkin seeds and little zest and lemon juice in the main dish, the others could take more as they needed along with freshly ground pepper.
I have used Extra Virgin oil (EVO) to stir fry the garlic and nuts. The other option is butter…. Garlic and butter and chilli flakes! Wow, I love it!
Alio olio has been always a favourite.
This recipe is from BBC Good Food, no arguments

Ingredients to make Vegan Lemony Pasta

Pasta: Choose any delicate pasta, I have chosen spaghetti but if you can get small penne, rigatoni then please go ahead and use them.
Garlic: Use lots of garlic ( i know I am saying use lots of garlic).
Nuts: I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds but the other alternatives are pecans, pine nuts, sunflower seeds.
Lemons: I used the zest from one full lemon in the pot and the other one was as we each wanted.
Olive oil: Since I am planning to make my pasta vegan I choose EVO but you can use butter too.
Cheese: The recipe calls for parmesan cheese but we do not like it much so we choose Cheddar Cheese. In case you can get good parmesan cheese and you like it please go ahead.
Olives: I love green olives so I used them.
Chilli flakes: I used these liberally 😀 we can take the heat and still go for more. Please adjust to suit your tastes.
Pepper: Freshly ground pepper, use as much as you can take.
Salt: To taste.

How to make Vegan Lemony Pasta

In a deep pan put water, salt and oil. You can also optionally add garlic, herbs of your choice to boil the pasta.
Coarsely chop the walnuts and mince the garlic.
- Zest the lemon and then squeeze one out.
In another small pan add the oil the garlic and nuts. Roast on low heat till the nuts are toasted
- sprinkle the chilli flakes.
Meanwhile, the pasta will have cooked.
- Drain and cool the pasta.
Pour the roasted garlic oil and toss well.
Add the olives, zest and lemon juice, cheese.
Serve immediately.

Stock up on Spaghetti, for an Easy Dinners!

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