A food event co-hosted by the mother & daughter duo of Giz and Psychgrad of Equal Opportunity Kitchen has just kicked off. The goal of the food event is to raise the awareness and need for organ donation. The food event is called Tried Tested and True Two and participants have until July 21st to offer up a healthy, innovative and tasty dish that’s a winner in your books.
Many prizes are up for grabs and the event’s judge will be Canadian chef and food personality, Christine Cushing. I encourage to take part, get those old recipe cards out, find one of your family’s winning recipes and share the wealth!
Once again…SIGN YOUR ORGAN DONATION CARDS!!!!
This dish comes courtesy of one of my new cookbook’s called New Greek Cuisine. What struck about this dish was initially the title. You see, Agape is also the name of my maternal grandmother, which means Love in English.
The second thing that made me perk up were the ingredients: tomatoes, fresh herbs, olives and olive oil and a barely cooked sauce. An intriguing melange of ingredients yet still Greek.
Thirdly, the ingredients were unusual bedfellows for a sauce but it’s almost summer, the herbs in the garden are flourishing and cherry tomatoes are quite good these days.
This dish is easy to make, the ingredients are accessible, in season and it’s a healthy pasta choice. To underline the healthy aspect, I also used and recommend a multi-grain spaghetti – loaded in fibre.
The dish is also low on salt. The only real salt used here was in the boiling water for the spaghetti. The remaining ingredients provide sufficient seasoning for this refreshing and easy pasta dish.
The most decadent aspect of this dish would be the grated Kefalotyri and Manouri cheeses – both of which can be found at your Greek market or deli. The key to this pasta is the very ripe tomatoes. Got that – you’ve got an easy, healthy and delicious pasta on the table!
Agape’s Spaghetti With Mint
(adapted from New Greek Cuisine)
For 4
2 pints of very ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups of roughly chopped mint
2 cups of arugula, hand torn
2 Tbsp. drained capers
16 pitted green olives, roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1lb. package of multi-grain spaghetti
6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup of crumbled Manouri cheese Grated Kefalotyri or Romano cheese fresh ground pepper
- Get a large pot of water boiling. Add enough salt to make the water as salty as the sea.
- In the meantime, add the tomatoes, mint, arugula, capers, olives, oil in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a large skillet, add a swirl of olive oil and the garlic and infuse the oil over medium heat for about a minute. Now add all the ingredients from the bowl and toss to warm through and take off the heat.
- Drain the spaghetti and immediately add to the tomato mixture. Now add the grated Manouri and toss to mix well.
- Portion the pasta into bowls and top generously with grated Kefalotyri and fresh ground pepper.
35 Responses
Using Parmesan would make this dish very non-Greek and we all know your feelings about that. So, I am on the hunt for these Greek cheeses. As for this easy recipe – it sure is a winner, my friend!
A really beautiful dish and a great entry. I’m happy to see you through the gates so quickly and eagerly supporting a cause that means a huge amount to us.
Now I like the look of that!
I love capers and olives and tomatoes and spaghetti and…..LOL
It looks altogether very nice indeedy!
Simplicity at its best Peter..nice touch with the mint.
hmm havent tried capers before…should i ask how it tastes like or should i get my azz to the luxury supermarket and grab a jar? ^_^
Yumm that is a one delicious looking plate of pasta.
I am not a mint fan so will have to try with some other herb
This combination looks absolutely wonderful. I’m going to wait until after the tomato scare, though. I tend to have all the other ingredients except the cheese, which one of our local cheese mongers can remedy.
I am definitely going to give this recipe a try this weekend. The mint in my parent’s graden is going crazy!
This looks really delicious. Nice and light. Perfect for summer.
This is very close to my favorite pasta dish. The variations sound great and I can’t wait to try it!
What a lovely and tasty-looking dish!
Nina, you may certainly use Parmesan or romano…let’s not go overboard.
Giz, my pleasure and I appreciate you sharing your experience with your readers.
Jan Indeedy…that is your surname isn’t it? lol
Pete, I’m starting to really dig mint in pasta.
Rita, they are salty and tart, little pungent but wonderful…off to the market!
Happy, basil would work wonderfully here too.
Jen, up here in Canada we’ve been immune (so far) from the scare.
Joanna, enjoy…it’s simple and a surprisingly tasty one…even the conservative parents enjoyed it.
Mary..lite indeed.
Judy, what variations do you have?
Ann, do give this one a swirl…east and tasty.
this is definitely a great entry to this event..i still need to concoct mine in the kitchen :-)
btw , i never tried putting mint on my pasta ..this sounds a delicate elegant taste :-)
That my friend, is summer on a plate! I love how all of your recent dishes are so in the season!
Looks good and very summery. I still need to try a pasta dish with mint like this. It sounds interesting
Peter this looks really nice!!! mmmm…. whay you are so far???????? I want to cook to me some day!!!! dreams!!!! xxxGloria
This dish includes three of my favorites–tomatoes, arugula, and mint. I haven’t tried the Greek cheese, however; I’ll have to look for it. PS-I’m an organ donor too, so thanks for promoting this event so early.
Peter, I did something astonishingly similar to this last night, only without mint, olives & capers, and with the addition of scallions and basil. Hubby loves lots of sauce, but I like side dish pasta with lots of ingredients instead! You are an inspiration, as usual….
I discovered Manouri last year in a store close to my house. I wanted something to make a pasta recipe similar to the one Marjie describes. I love it: it is just perfect for this use.
It thrills me beyond words that I have ALL the ingredients on hand to make this dish right NOW.
Good food without having to go to the grocery store (for the gazillionth time this week) first. Go me! I rock!
I like the sound of all that arugula and mint thrown in! Both are growing in my garden as we speak!
This looks delicious! I love green olives.
We have a major shortage of tomatoes here. From salmonella. :(
Look at that beautiful dish of pasta! I love the idea of mint in there, Peter! I have got to try this.
Peter, I LOVE THIS!! It’s a bit of a torture reading about it and looking at the photos- but that’s OK, it’s easily forgiveable hehe :-) I love the ingredients used, the name of the dish, something to definately enjoy this summer!
Yummy… cooked arugula… I love arugula but never had it cooked, it sounds great! The dish looks terrific!
Looks fantastic Peter! I’ve been on a big mint kick lately. I’ve never tried Kefalotyri, but I’ll have to keep an eye out for it.
Dhanngit, I too only recently discovered that mint in pasta is wonderful…you’ll enjoy the surprise.
Jenn, it’s hard to do in Canada but when the stuff is fresh…you betcha!
Mike, mint in pasta rocks…try a bowl.
Susan, ricotta silata would sub. quite well…enjoy.
Marjie, sounds wonderful…when the tomatoes are ripe…nothing better.
Simona, glad you found some Manouri. As an Italian, what cheese would you compare it too?
Sandie…YAY!!! I hope you enjoy the pasta.
Marie, it’s a good thing to be able to whip up a meal from the garden.
Emi, I heard…it should pass soon and vine tomatoes, I believe are ok down there.
Nikki, again…I’m sold on mint in pasta…a wonderful, sweet undertone, matched by some tart cheese.
LOL…Marianna…you’re too kind but you can always whip up a quick & easy dish like this…bon apetit!
Cris, it’s only lightly wilted, still quite green…I think you’ll enjoy it.
Marc, if you can’t find Kefalotyri, Parmesan is a good sub.
I like the sound of adding mint to this pasta dish. It looks really, really good!
I’ve switched to Dreamfields pasta, which isn’t whole grain but is very low carb and delicious. I have tons of mint in my herb garden, so I’m bookmarking this recipe to try with my harvest.
Thanks for posting this! One… the cookbook sounds great, two..my mint is going crazy, and three..this sounds like a great, worthy event!
Great recipe! I make a very similar dish, but with Gaeta olives and pecorino cheese. I enjoy the multigrain pastas, especially with a gutsy sauce like this. I found a farro pasta that is very good too, but it costs a fortune!
Easy, quick and flavourful… what else can I ask for? Pasta is such a great invention!!!
If there would be a contest for the most refreshing pasta dish, yours would be the winner! Delicious
MMMM…now this looks good.
Thank you sooo much for visiting my site!! I love when I get kind comments! How did you find me?
peter, it’s bookmarked!