Mediterranean Pasta with Olives and Cherry Tomatoes – Vegan version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tomato sauce

1. 1
   In a bowl, mix the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and black pepper with the salt.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 2
   Add and fry 3 minutes, until the peppers soften.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Add the cherry tomatoes and black pepper with the salt and cook 5–7 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften, burst and release their juices.

   Stove

For the Cooked pasta

1. 4
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 5
   Reserve cup of the cooking water before draining.

   ⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 6
   Drain.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 7
   Add the olives to the sauce and cook for another 1 minute.

   Stove
2. 8
   Add the drained pasta to the sauce, with a little of the cooking water if it is thick, and toss well.

   💡Toss the pasta in the sauce over the heat for one minute: it soaks up the sauce instead of just being coated in it.
3. 9
   Serve immediately with the Parmesan and basil.