We know that you think that we, being glitzy upright citizens of the shiny kingdom of FoodBloggery, spend our days in all manner of uppercrust hobnobbing, jetsetting, and elbowrubbing followed by luxurious evenings of sumptuous dining on Champagne, Caviar, and Filet Mignon.

But, in our humdrum reality as mere mortals, sometimes a Wednesday is just a Wednesday (or a Thursday or a *gasp* Monday) and we are naught but common folk much like yourselves. As such we are as fond of the basics as anyone: simple salads, easy sides, and one-pot pasta dishes like this one.

Though we love Green Olives and we’re likely to throw them into just about anything – this particular variation of your basic Pasta and Red Sauce dish wouldn’t have seemed so special to us if Julie hadn’t found these awesome Alder Smoked Green Olives at the store.

With the combination of a spicy Tomato-based sauce and Green Olives it’s sort of a poor-man’s Puttenesca and we found that using the Smoked Olives lent a subtle smokiness that was delicious in the sauce.

Otherwise this is a pretty straightforward weeknight pasta-from-a-jar kind of dish (come on, it can’t be Filet Mignon and Champage for dinner every night, can it? Right? You guys are with us on this, aren’t you? Um, guys…?). Oh, by the by, as an added bonus this dish is vegetarian and still high in protein…

• Whole Grain Pasta (extra credit for the Barilla Plus pasta…)
• Spicy Tomato Sauce – we used one from Classico and it was excellent (alternatively you could use regular pasta sauce and add a teaspoon or two of Crushed Red Chile Flakes)
• A large handful of Fresh Basil leaves, torn into pieces
• 8 to 10 large Alder Smoked Olives sliced (Mezzetta is the brand we used – look for the Napa Valley Bistro line…)
• 1 small to medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 8 oz Sliced Mushrooms
• 1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed
• Shedded Parmesan
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Cookery:

• Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until al dente
• In the same pot over medium-high heat and add a little Olive Oil
• Sauté the Yellow Onion until it’s clearish
• Add the Beans, Mushrooms, and Olives and stir them around for a couple minutes
• Add the sauce and the Basil and season it all to taste with Salt & Pepper
• Serve the sauce over the Pasta with generous heaps of Parmesan Cheese…

Enjoy the rest of your weeknight or whatever.

Cheers!