PESTO PASTA WITH OLIVES & GRAPE TOMATOES

Instructions

1. Most Greek food is vegetarian friendly. This is another great example of a very satisfying, healthy vegetarian dish. Sure you can add leftover roasted chicken or shrimp if you have some, but trust me, it's SO deliciously flavorful as is that you don't need to!
2. The ingredients are few and basic. This dish literally takes under 20 minutes to prepare. Perfect for those crazy days when you can bet your life on it that someone fast forwarded ALL of the clocks in the world....those days come too often for me :0 Hence, this dish was born! See, everything really does happen for a reason.
3. You will need really good pesto. You can get my recipe.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. Add the 3 tablespoons of salt and some olive oil to the pot and boil for 8 minutes.
5. In the meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a cast iron pan (if you don't have a cast iron pan, use whatever you have). Add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over them and move them around in the pan so that they cook evenly on all sides. They may get a little bit of a char. Don't worry. That adds flavor. Lower the heat if they begin to burn.
6. Cook the tomatoes just until they release some juices and get a little wrinkly. Do not over cook or they will melt. They should keep their shape and just get nice and juicy. Add the chopped garlic and cook just for about a minute.
7. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta liquid. Strain the pasta and return to the pot over medium heat.
8. Add the pesto sauce, olives and reserved pasta liquid. Mix well. Add the cooked tomatoes and crumbled feta. Fold in gently being careful not to smash the tomatoes. Taste and add some more salt & pepper if necessary.
9. Drizzle a little more olive oil over it and serve! Enjoy 🙂