Sicilian-style spaghetti with olives, capers and roasted red peppers

You can make this recipe for Sicilian-style spaghetti with olives, salty capers and sweet roasted red peppers, very simply using canned roasted peppers and canned black olives. However, your dish will be much improved by making it the old fashioned Italian way – from scratch.

At the farmer’s market in Rockledge Gardens, we have most of the ingredients for you. You can even order them online for pickup at Pasta Nostra USA. We have fresh spaghetti, extra virgin olive oil, capers and often have cured black olives too. In fact, we have a lovely collection of infused olive oils that we often use to make our sauces for pasta dishes. You can even pick-your-own parsley!

Sicilian-style Spaghetti with olives, capers and roasted red peppers

Serves 2 – 4

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup black olives (cured if possible, they are very different to the canned option), thinly sliced
• 1 cup roasted red peppers, thinly sliced (the directions for roasting them yourself is below
• 1 tablespoons capers in salt, rinsed, lightly squashed and drained
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1 bunch of parsley, chopped, divided

1. To roast a pepper, simply place it on a baking sheet under a broiler (grill) on a high heat. Cook until the skin is blacken, all over if possible. Allow the pepper to cool before peeling off the skin that will come off very easily. when you cut the pepper open, it will be very juicy inside. We add that juice to the sauce, so try and collect it if you can. Remove the seeds and slice the pepper into ribbons.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the capers, olives and roasted peppers. Cook until everything is warmed through.
3. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions, until al dente. As soon as the pasta is cooked, lift it from the water and add it to the sauce with about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and half of the parsley.
4. Add the lemon zest and juice and toss everything together.
5. Serve immediately garnished with the remaining parsley.

ADAPTED FROM: Buzz Feed – Easy Spaghetti Dinners

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