It's as if all I eat is pasta. Well, that makes sense, since we're moving in two weeks and are therefore trying very, very hard to get rid of as much stored food as possible. We're drowning in pulses, grains, and pasta, supplemented with tiny amounts of fresh ingredients bought sparingly.

So I could tell you about the beans, rice and salsa I had for dinner last night and lunch today, or I could tell you about some marginally more exciting pasta.

Pasta with seared olives and tomatoes

olive oil
garlic
serrano pepper
cherry tomatoes
green olives
salt, pepper
gemelli/other pasta
optional parsley and cheese

This is basically an aglio e olio with a few extra vegetables.

Put on a pot of pasta water; cook and drain pasta at an appropriate time.

Peel and mince a handful of garlic; soften it slowly in olive oil. Stem and finely mince a serrano or other hot pepper; soften it with the garlic.

I seared the tomatoes and olives in a separate pan, since I was the only one who wanted them. It also let me turn the heat up and really start to blacken them, which was excellent. You can cook them in the same pan with the garlic and pepper, though, if you want.

Chop tomatoes and olives into small pieces, and sear in olive oil on medium-high heat. It took mine about five or seven minutes to get appropriately dark.

When everything is done, toss the drained pasta with garlic and pepper. Salt and pepper if you want salt and pepper. Plate, then add big spoonfuls of tomato and olive. If you have any fresh parsley to use up, sprinkle some on top. Grate the bare remaining edge of a rind of parmesan on as well, if you want.

Eat it all. Try to figure out what you can make to next decimate your kitchen.