I dare say, this simple Mediterranean olive oil pasta is textbook Mediterranean diet deliciousness! It skips all the fluff and heavy sauces in favor of extra virgin olive oil and a few ingredients.
This simple olive oil pasta recipe takes inspiration from the popular Naples dish called spaghetti aglio e olio, which translates to spaghetti with garlic and oil.
In a typical spaghetti aglio e olio recipe, pasta is coated in a simple garlic-olive oil sauce, then garnished with parsley and, sometimes, grated Parmesan.
But this Mediterranean olive oil pasta goes just a little bit further, by adding a few favorite ingredients like grape tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, feta and olives.
A couple of tips for this olive oil pasta
First, this dish makes a feature of extra virgin olive oil and relies heavily on its flavor. The oil is briefly heated through, but not cooked. That’s why, you’ll want to use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford.
Remember, oils that are simply labeled “pure” have usually been heat-treated and refined by mechanical means and, consequently, lack character and flavor.
Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For this recipe, I always use our Greek Early Harvest extra virgin olive oil. It is organically grown and processed from native Koroneiki olives, which are hand-picked early in the season while still green, and processed within ours to make this prized ‘liquid gold’ they call ‘agoureleo.’
Our Early Harvest oil is an exquisite cold extracted and unfiltered oil with a perfectly balanced complexity— rich green, fruity and pungent with a peppery finish. Our oil features exceptionally high levels of polyphenols and low acidity of less than 0.35%.
Read more about our Early Harvest oil here! It makes a ton of difference in dishes like this Mediterranean olive oil pasta.
Secondly, when making the sauce, do not allow the garlic to brown, it will taint its flavor. If it does brown or burn, you’ll need to toss it and start over.
Of course, if you’re in the mood for something saucy, be sure to check out my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe!
Watch How to Make this Simple Olive Oil Pasta
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Simple Mediterranean Olive Oil Pasta
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Simple, tasty olive oil pasta loaded with Mediterranean flavors.
Ingredients
- 1 lb thin spaghetti
- 1/2 cup Early Harvest Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or Private Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- Salt
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 12 oz grape tomatoes, halved
- 3 scallions (green onions), top trimmed, both whites and greens chopped
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, drained
- 1/4 cup pitted olives, halved
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, more if you like
- 10–15 fresh basil leaves, torn
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Follow package instructions to cook thin spaghetti pasta to al dente (mine took 6 minutes to cook in plenty of boiling water with salt and olive oil).
- When pasta is almost cooked, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Lower the heat and add garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for 10 seconds, stirring regularly. Stir in the parsley, tomatoes and chopped scallions. Cook over low heat until just warmed through, about 30 seconds or so.
- When the pasta is ready, remove from heat, drain cooking water and return to its cooking pot. Pour the warmed olive oil sauce in and toss to coat thoroughly. Add black pepper and toss again to coat.
- Add the remaining ingredients and toss one more time. Serve immediately in pasta bowls, and if you like, top each with more basil leaves and feta. Enjoy!
Notes
Recommended for this recipe Our Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 9 mins
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Other Recipes to Try
Blackened Chicken and Spaghetti Dinner
what a delicious mediterranean dishes. When I read, that the Mediterranean diet its de healthiest. I was clear, I am going to change all my diet. Later, I found this blog, and was the perfect combination. And the olive oil pasta is super
Great taste, so easy and everyone loved it. I used gluten free pasta. I will definitely make it again and will add shrimp or / and scallops next time. Thank you for sharing
Awesome! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
This is a keeper recipe. I have numerous times and we love it. I did substitute drained stewed tomatoes in lieu of grape tomatoes. Yummy recipe. Use whole wheat pasta ALWAYS
Thanks so much for sharing, Lorraine!
I just made this dish and all I can say is WOW!
Love all the veggies; so easy to make. Also made a Greek salad to go with it!
I love all your recipes. I have made a lot of the
Mediterranean ones.
Awesome, Faye! Thanks so much for trying it!
Do you have nutritional information for one serving and how much is one serving?
Hi Debi, the nutritional label at the bottom of the recipe box should give you a rough idea.
Love this, and so does my family!
Awesome, Lynne! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe ❤️
My pleasure 🙂
Very tasty!! Perfect meal for a summer night. I added some fresh arugula at the end and just let the pasta wilt it down. Will definitely make this over and over..
Awesome, Mark! So glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely amazing! Followed recipe as is. Used EVO I purchased in Italy. I cannot wait to try out your other recipes! Thank you!
Awesome, Pat! Thanks for sharing!
Delicious, I also topped with toasted pine nuts.
Love pine nuts! Thanks for sharing, Teena
Italian here! I will try to cook this pasta for dinner, it looks so yummy 🙂
Happy I found this website, a lot of great recipes I can’t wait to try!
Just a little note from a mother tongue, it’s Aglio, not Agolio 🙂
Thank you, Bianca! So glad to have you here. And thank you for catching the typo!!
this is an amazing recipe, definitely will be one of our family goto quick recipe
tastes amazing
Yay, Carmen! So glad y’all liked it!
That looks so good! Is there a substitution I can do to replace feta? My family is not huge on feta cheese.
Hi Amy, you could use fresh mozzarella. Enjoy
Made this tonight. I don’t love pasta (mostly because my husband is gf and I don’t like alternative pastas) but this was so insanely good! It was super flavorful and so light and bright. I will be making this one all the time!!!
Yay! so glad to hear it Cassi!
I just made this for dinner and it’s wonderful! I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I used spinach and added shrimp. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers!
Wonderful, Thelma! So happy you enjoyed it. And thank you for sharing your adaption!
Excellent recipe, thank you
Thanks so much, Ginger! Glad you enjoyed it!