"The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you are hungry again. " - George Miller
Once upon a time, a few months ago to be exact, I went on a business trip to Mykonos, Greece. Yeah, I know it sounds like business! Gorgeous island with beautiful beaches, friendly people and amazing food. Since I was there with a lot of other people, we had pre-booked dinners at different restaurants. Another upside to this short story - having a colleague, from Greece, who is proud to be Greek and is always going an extra mile to make other people fall in love with the country - well he was the one, who organized everything. He knows food and definitely knows how to showcase the best of what the country has to offer. Referring to him, Greeks treat food as love.
And a lot of it! I don't know how they do it, but I tend to write it off on their genes. They are also so chill and their hospitality is amazing. Greeks sure do know how take benefit of the good weather, the land and the sea. And they do offer a lot of food
So being one of the two vegetarians out of the whole group at some point got overlooked and one of those dinners we had in a restaurant on the beach was serving only grilled meat. Needless to say, when the kitchen heard about the two of us, alternatives were poured out immediately. We decided to go with a pasta dish, topped with olives, capers, tomatoes and gorgeous fresh goat cheese. Not the first time that this happens when dining with a big crowd, but the result is always the same - the kitchen always comes up with something special as a consolation. And it's always something fresh!
We had quite a few starters. The starters themselves were beyond good. So by the time our main dishes arrived, I was already full. I had to try some. And then I couldn't stop eating. The combination of the ingredients married very well together.
Ingredients:
* Fresh pasta (spinach fettuccine in the photo)
* Pitted black olives
* Cherry tomatoes
* Capers
* Goat cheese
* Red onion
* Salt'n'pepper
* Olive oil
Trying to find everything as fresh in winter in Lithuania - yes, it doesn't add up to the same quality of ingredients as peak season in Greece, yet the result is almost as satisfying.
Cook pasta al dente. Basically with fresh pasta is just dipping it in boiling water for max 2 minutes and getting it out.
Heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil, add sliced onion until tender, salt and freshly ground pepper along the way. Halve cherry tomatoes, add to the pan together with crushed or chopped olives and capers. Give it a few minutes, until tomatoes are cooked through. Mix in pasta and goat cheese according to your taste. I added a few tablespoons of cheese. And that's it! Very simple, a bouquet of different flavors and textures - creamy, salty, tangy and filling!
Bon appetit!
