I should write about magic.

An idea I stole from Meg Ryan as I watched her fall in love for the second time this week. On an elliptical. At the gym.

Both times with Tom Hanks. (You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.)

And by the second time, I thought. Really, how lucky can one girl get. Tom Hanks once, and I could suspend my disbelief. Alter my sense of reality. No big deal.

But Tom Hanks twice? In one week? Not to mention that both times her relationship starts out without her even having met the guy. She seduces him with her writing.

(Newsflash. Any single men out there. You see what I am doing here. Writing. So what I need you to do is go. Watch the movies. Take notes. Learn a few lessons from Tom Hanks. Come back. And be seduced.)
In the meantime. Because that may take a while.

Where were we?

Oh right. Magic.

Sometimes magic is falling in love with the big shot bookstore owner who is about to drive your little shot store out of business. Sometimes it is falling in love with a somewhat emotionally unavailable grief-stricken man who lives 3,000 miles away. And then flying across the country to declare your undying emotion for a man you have never met. (Note – this is also known as stalking. Do not try this at home.)

And sometimes it has nothing to do with falling.

But everything to do with love.

Love of pasta.

Love of dinner that can be prepared with five ingredients in the amount of time that it takes to boil water.

Love that, sure, you may complain about being single. But it means that when you make something really good for dinner. You get to keep all the leftovers for yourself.

Now that. That is magic.
Olive and Mozzarella Spaghetti
Serves 3, adapted from The Essential Pasta Cookbook

8 oz spaghetti
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil (I used roasted garlic olive oil that I bought at the Ferry St. Market in SF!)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black olives, halved
3 oz cute little mozzarella balls
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil water and cook spaghetti.

2. While that is happening, cut your ingredients. When the water boils, just as you put the spaghetti in, heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Saute the garlic on low until the pasta is done.

3. Mix all of the ingredients and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted by Gay of Scientist in the Kitchen!

You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
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62 Responses to Olive and Mozzarella Spaghetti

  1. Lea Ann says:

    I love this idea for spaghetti, all the flavors sounds so wonderful together.

  2. Love Meg Ryan movies … and the possibility of someone falling in love over writing … isn’t that the best? The spaghetti looks good too! 😉

  3. great post! where are those men who love writers when you need one?

  4. Shannon says:

    pasta is magic 🙂 i can’t wait to give it a try myself… soon!

  5. Mari says:

    HAHA you crack me up! Tom Hanks should be the role model for most men when it comes to being romantic lol

    I want to dive into that bowl of pasta!

  6. Elra says:

    Lovely pasta, mozarella and olive. I could have three serving of this, right?

  7. Bob says:

    You’re probably going to stab me, but I’m just not an olive fan. I mean it looks great and if you promised not to look while I picked them out I would totally eat it. 😀

  8. hahha she says that pb causes breakouts. haven’t heard the verdict on that one. ew acne.

    i too was disillusioned that crunchy pb would be so UN tasty. it was totally tasty! lol!

    i know. something about surfing the net and writing papers and THINKING makes me hungry. pb is the cure.

  9. chrystad72 says:

    I love all your intros and stories to your wonderful recipes. Awesome. I hate to say this but I havent seen either movie! But I will say that that is one AMAZING looking bowl of delicious pasta. I love black olives and that roasted garlic oil sounds awesome. What a fabulous recipe. Thanks sweetie! Have a good day!!

  10. This pasta dish looks absolutely delicious!

  11. Amy says:

    I’m been having a love affair with pasta for years. And you’re right – leftovers are an awesome advantage to being single. Paul eats too much of the goodies the next day!

    More importantly, if writing really made men swoon, you, Joanne, would need to beat them off with a stick.

  12. You cant beat this one-after i wrote u a lonnnng email my laptop hung(whew….)….
    So here i go rambling again…..
    Oh yeah…come fall in the love…the magic the movies bring…..
    Jus my kinda movies(jus knw havent watched ’em yet…u cant believe that???well our lone multi plex hardly releases english movies and our tv jus got connected last year-i hardly watch tv anywy-and ofcrz mom always got my fav dvd beginin with sound f music,ice princess,pricess’s diaries n the likes…..whew that was too long an explanation but u got me excited with the writing part here :-))) )
    That said would be lovely if u had a list at the column of ur fav movies-would know all i missed too…
    Before i say anything on this fantastic pasta there’s a change in u pics here…new cam?i dont know what but these are fantastic cute pics with a deep color-me love me love….’
    YEah love is all about food too and this lovely pasta reminds me of all have bookmarked from ur blog but have made none…..
    YEah i love pesto with shrimps and sun dried toms too-another sauce i make has loads of ’em and yeah i smoother ’em all…,

  13. Looks amazing…I love this combo of pasta.

  14. This looks so good! But I must confess I am not a fan of Mr. Hanks! But I think the food on your blog would be a big plus for any guy – but your sense of humor is the best!

  15. teresa says:

    this definitely looks like something i could fall in love with! i love those little chunks of CHEESE!

  16. That is my kind of meal! Loves me some pasta, especially with garlic and olivey goodness.
    If you are still single in ten years I will introduce you to my son. Sure, he is only 18 now, but when you are 32 he will be 28. Nice. Plus, I will have a doctor in the family!

  17. SE says:

    add anything to spaghetti and its accepts and blends well !! nice !

  18. Pam says:

    I’ve never heard of the Essential Pasta Cookbook! How can there be a pasta cookbook that I haven’t heard of!

  19. Debbi Smith says:

    I love Sleepless in Seattle. Great movie. Not a huge fan of You’ve Got Mail. The pasta looks delicious!

  20. Debbie says:

    Oh yum….pasta with black olives! I can eat pasta anytime and absolutely love black olives. When I was small I used to put a pitted black olive on each of my fingers and eat them one by one!!!! Looks so good!

  21. Oh girl, you’re a doll 🙂 Any chap worth his salt would fall head over heels for you because of your writing. 🙂 Love the simplicity of this dish. 🙂

  22. this looks wonderful can’t wait to hear your love story he he h

  23. Such lovely fresh flavors with mozarella tomatoes and olives, delicious pasta!

  24. Ah, now that’s Italiano! I am SO in love! Beautiful, simple yet such a wonderful dish! I could eat this every day of my life and never get bored. I can taste the magic!

  25. Great chic flicks! Sense and Sensibility is my all-time favorite chic flick but then Hugh Grant is also in many of my favorites (we won’t go into his issues here). I think there is most certainly a man out there that will love your writing. Perhaps a minor in journalism?

    Oh yes, the food! Wonderful recipe – like a pasta caprese – delightful!

  26. Kalyn says:

    I love this post, and what a great sounding recipe too!

  27. sophia says:

    You’re a fan of Tom Hanks?! I love that guy! Don’t think I’d want a romance with him, but he would be such a great pal.
    I’m not a big fan of Meg Ryan, though…probably because her character in You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle annoyed the heck out of me.

    YAY! Pasta once again! 😀

  28. Faith says:

    Those are both such great movies, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are amazing together! And oh yes, everything about this pasta dish looks like magic to me!

  29. tigerfish says:

    I have not joined the pasta event for quite some time. Seeing your pasta dish and creation, looks like I should cook some pasta again! 😀

  30. I think the pasta is great but please, seduce first and then pasta. No, don’t use the pasta to seduce. Use your imagination.

  31. Luigi says:

    Hillarious prelude to the recipe! Italians have a great sense of humour. huh. lol.

    Wonderful recipe, and lots of garlic. Excellent!!

  32. Debinhawaii says:

    Aw–I love both of those movies. 😉 The pasta looks delicious!

  33. Katy ~ says:

    Joanne, my beautiful friend, I am sure that you have MANY admirers. The right guy is looking for you right now.

    In the meantime, oh yes, this delicious pasta looks like magic could happen when it was served. Big YUM!

  34. Ruth Daniels says:

    Wonderful post and perfectly awesome dish…since I’ve found my love, mind if I double the recipe? That way we both could have seconds.

    Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

  35. Donna-FFW says:

    I love Tom Hanks also. Something about him, well something about most guys, they each have something special about them, no? Anyway, this dish is magic, it sounds wonderful and I love how pretty it looks!!

  36. Yasmeen says:

    I have immense love for all the ingredients used in the pasta,yum!

  37. Nostalgia says:

    Ooh.. good looking dish there. Good luck finding Tom Hanks soon 🙂

  38. doggybloggy says:

    you are such a firecracker – I cant wait till the weather is more forgiving and maybe we can arrange a blog picnic in Central Park

  39. Paul Wynn says:

    Oooh I asked for pasta and you delivered Joanne!

  40. Cristie says:

    I saw Tom Hanks once in an air port- he waved and smiled. One of my daughter has a crush on him and always has. Have you ever seen That Thing You Do? Great flick. Love the pasta.

  41. Jennie says:

    Oh yes! This looks delicious Joanne! Great post as always!

  42. Mary says:

    Joanne, I really loved this post but your pasta stole my heart. Man, that looks good! Blessings…Mary

  43. Muneeba says:

    Guess we watch the same TV .. ‘coz I loved watching bits and pieces of those very movies just the other day .. too cute for words :)) I would’ve enjoyed them more if I was chowing down on your pasta at the same time!

  44. ejm says:

    Roasted garlic olive oil… oooh, what a great idea. But I’m not going to look for a bottle of that kind of oil. I’m going to roast some garlic and reserve the oil. (Because roasted garlic is soooooo good!)

    (Pasta IS magical. I made spaghetti with tomatoes, garlic and bacon one of the first times I ever cooked dinner for a fellow I had just met. I learned much much later – after we were married – that before that dinner, he HATED both spaghetti AND tomato sauce.)

    Excellent point about getting to have all the left-overs for yourself! It works for dinners for two as well. I love having yesterday’s dinner for lunch!

    -Elizabeth

  45. Andreas says:

    That recipe sounds good to me.
    I have a hunch that it’s easier to seduce men by cooking than by writing, but maybe that’s only because I don’t know the first thing about seducing men.

  46. oo yes, you’ve got to love pasta! So simple and satisfying. Looks great!

  47. Barbara says:

    Marvelous recipe and better yet, I have all the ingredients right this minute. It’s easy, tasty and it’s PASTA! Yum.

  48. What a cute post! Meg Ryan is one of my favorite actresses. She’s so stinkin’ adorable, who couldn’t help but fall in love with her?! And I’m in love with your pasta! Those little mozzarella balls, yummmmmm.

  49. Joanne
    You just described my best pasta recipe; I am nuts about olives anyway.
    Hey, these movies were great because they described totally unlikely situations; kind of like cinderella losing her slipper and getting the prince; I am all for dreaming!

  50. Karine says:

    Even though I rarely watch a movie, I also do love Tom Hans. You will laugh but, when I was a kid, I wanted to become an astronaut…. and I watched a zillion times Apollo 13. Ah the good times 🙂

    I love olive and spag. They are magic together!

  51. theUngourmet says:

    I love both of those movies. I can watch them again and again!

    Mmm. Your pasta looks Deeeeelisssshhhh! Definitely a magical dish!

  52. There’s something very sophisticated about the coloring of black, red, and white.

  53. Julie says:

    Maybe you could seduce Tom Hanks with this pasta…eh?

  54. Michelle says:

    I watched the same movies last weekend, in fact I think I watched them several times each! I think I like Tom Hanks a bit better when he was in the romantic comedies early in his career rather then the more serious films he has made later.

    Yep, I think the pasta would get just about anyone’s attention!

  55. preventionrd says:

    My husband would love this. We have fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes that we need to use, too! Thanks for the recipe!

  56. Hannah says:

    Such a quick and simple yet satisfying pasta dish- You can never have too many recipes like that! 🙂

  57. Jen says:

    pasta is magic! I love the big pieces of tomato and fresh mozzarella in there, yum!

  58. Kerstin says:

    I’m not a huge olive fan, but I think Apolinaras would really love this!

  59. Sara says:

    Mmmm, this looks amazing! I love olives in pasta, and don’t make enough recipes with them! I will have to try this one. 🙂

  60. Maris says:

    Sounds really good! I want to get my hands on this pasta cookbook 🙂

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