in lieu of making sad, uninspired dishes because grocery prices have gone through the roof, i’m trying to tap into my “inner italian” and make simple pasta dishes that pack a wallop with taste but use ingredients i already have on hand. that being said, i’m a green olive fanatic, so i always have them in my cupboard or fridge. i did a little searching online for green olive pasta recipes. a version of the recipe that follows kept popping up on spanish and italian sites. i would have never thought to put green olives and cream together, but it is a truly inspired combination. the cream mellows out the olives in just the right way and the garlic is a perfect marriage for their salty goodness. plus, the whole dish takes about 15 minutes to make! here is my recipe…spaghetti with green olive sauce (makes 2 servings)
4 ounces of pitted and chopped spanish green olives (manzanilla work well for this)
6 cloves of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup half & half or heavy cream (use what you have)
thin spaghetti (enough for 2)
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon italian parsley, coarsely chopped
while your pasta is cooking (i’m going to assume that you know how to make pasta), saute the olives and garlic in the olive oil just until they are soft. (don’t brown the garlic or it will get bitter). add the cream and reduce until it’s rich and creamy. add the parmesan cheese and pepper to the cream mixture and toss with your drained, al dente spaghetti. add the parsley and serve immediately. you don’t need to add any salt to this dish. the olives are salty enough to flavor the sauce.
celery carrots and onions 
I love the sound of the sauce, but for someone like myself (who doesn’t like olives), could I replace the olives with something else, such as zucchini or broccoli, as long as I add some salt too? Or would that be sacrilege?
that wouldn’t be sacrilege, but this recipe is specifically an olive recipe. i’ll figure out a different quick sauce for you to make. do you like peas? how do you feel about anchoivies?
I can deal with peas, but tend to avoid anchovies. thanks, baby!
i’m on it. your pickiness is a challenge but don’t despair…
Hi Jen, guess what I'm eating right now! I love a good cupboard-clearing meal; the only items I needed were the half&half & parsley, & 5 minutes & $1.61 later that problem was solved. I'm not sure I did everything right but it is good in my mouth. Although since I subscribe to the one-for-you, two-for-me rule of measuring I sort of filled up on olives before it was done.