Olive-Walnut Pasta

By Ali Slagle

Updated Jan. 29, 2021

Olive-Walnut Pasta
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(1,400)
Comments
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Double down on the olive oil flavor in this dish by warming a generous amount with torn green olives to dress your pasta. While you can use just one kind of olive, like mild Castelvetrano, a variety will create depth of flavor. Adding chopped walnuts provides texture and a nice dose of protein to this vegan dish, while lemon zest and juice perk everything up. It would also be good with soft herbs like oregano, dill or basil, a salty cheese like feta or Parmesan, or shrimp that's been cooked with the pasta in the last few minutes of boiling.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1pound short pasta, like orecchiette, cavatelli, fusilli or elbows
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2cups chopped walnuts
  • 1¼cups Castelvetrano olives (or a mixture of green olives), pitted and torn
  • 1small garlic clove, peeled
  • 1lemon, zested and juiced (about 3 tablespoons juice)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

1100 calories; 72 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 28 grams monounsaturated fat; 31 grams polyunsaturated fat; 98 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 24 grams protein; 612 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the water’s boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain.

  2. Step 2

    While the pasta’s cooking, in a large Dutch oven, stir together the olive oil, walnuts and olives. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and the walnuts are toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, finely grate in the garlic clove and season with 1½ teaspoons salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine.

  3. Step 3

    Add the pasta and ¼ cup pasta water to the walnut mixture. Cook over medium-low, stirring and adding pasta water as needed, until the pasta is well coated. Remove from heat and stir in half the lemon zest and all the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and more lemon zest.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,400 user ratings
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Comments

Alan

Made this tonight and it was quite yummy. The proportions were a bit off: definitely too many walnuts (I would go with 1 cup next time) and more olive oil than needed (I would use 1/4 or 1/3 cup). We served with grated parmesan and it worked well.

Kelly

Used olive tapenade and it was quick and easy. Delicious.

jz

Added frozen peas to the pan after adding pasta. Cooked up easily and added a vegetable.

Tomas

Followed the recipe to the letter, except that I took a cue from my fellow cooks and added raw, peeled, deveined shrimp to the oil-walnuts-olive mixture just before bringing in the pasta. Shrimp cooked quickly, especially since I let them thaw for several hours after removing them from the freezer. Worked like a charm. Savory and flavorful. The lemon background notes were a pleasant twist. Thumbs up from the family at the table.

Michael Corsentino

Toast the walnuts!

Rae

Delicious. Used a 12 oz box of whole wheat reginetti which worked perfectly to catch all the textures in this dish. Scaled down ingredients to match so I used 1 heaped cup of walnuts, 1 scant cup olives, and 1/3 cup olive oil. Added some chili flakes and chopped fresh oregano and parsley for some extra brightness which I highly recommend. Only other tweak I’ll make next time is to melt an anchovy or two into the oil for a touch more depth.

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