Pasta with Kale, Kalamata Olives, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Garlic & Feta

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Pasta with Kale, Kalamata Olives, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Garlic, & Feta. Whew, I am out of breath. I know, that is a really long name for a pasta dish, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave out any of the key ingredients. ALL of the ingredients in this pasta dish are stars!

This recipe comes from my fabulous sister-in-law, Whitney. When we went to California, she made us this dish and I immediately fell in love. We’ve been making it on a regular basis ever since. Whitney calls it “crazy spaghetti” and I think I know why because it is CRAZY good! Oh, and probably because Pasta with Kale, Kalamata Olives, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Garlic, & Feta is too long to say! Maybe I should stick with crazy spaghetti too!

I could eat this pasta dish every night. It is simple to make and the flavors are outstanding. You might question all of the flavors together, but after one bite, I guarantee you will be hooked like a worm on a fishing pole.The flavors work together in the most amazing way. The slightly bitter kale, sweet dried cranberries, salty kalamata olives and feta cheese mixed in with pasta just works! And don’t skip the toasted garlic on top, even if you claim to be a garlic hater, give the toasted garlic a chance in this dish. It’s awesome!

Go crazy tonight and make “crazy spaghetti” aka Pasta with Kale, Kalamata Olives, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Garlic, & Feta. This pasta dish is a staple in our home. We hope you like it as much as we do. Thanks Whit for sharing your c-c-crazzzzy good recipe!

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Pasta with Kale, Kalamata Olives, Dried Cranberries, Toasted Garlic, & Feta

This pasta dish is also known as "crazy spaghetti" because it is crazy good-a family favorite!
4 from 2 votes

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • 1. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Cook onion in the remaining oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add dried cranberries and cook until plumped, about 1 minute.
  • 2. Add kale leaves into onion mixture with water and ¾ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes.
  • 3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pasta pot of boiling salted water until aldente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water and drain pasta.
  • 4. Toss pasta with kale, kalamata olives, and ½ cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle feta cheese and garlic chips over the pasta dish and serve warm.

Have you tried this recipe?

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. I have been adding dried cranberries to everything lately, so this is everything I want in a pasta dish right now! The olives, and sweet cranberries… Aaah, so yummy. 🙂

  2. I’m with you, I could eat pasta every-night too!! I love it and their is much you can do with it! Your recipe looks amazing!

  3. The dried cranberries are such a cool addition to the pasta! Never would’ve thought to throw those in.

  4. What a great combination of flavors for a pasta dish! Your sister-in-law is a genius! I will be making this for sure!

  5. Mmm, I like anything with feta, and those olives just add a little something extra. 🙂

  6. This is crazy-delicious!! I can’t wait for it to be the star of our dinner table. I am absolutely in love with this dish!

  7. Crazy pasta sounds pretty much perfect to me. I can almost taste the sweet and salty combo in my mouth, just begging for more!

  8. Just tried kale with pasta recently, so good! Love all the stars here, sounds fresh and delicious.

  9. My mouth is watering already! Cannot wait to head to town to pick up the ingredients! Awesome recipe, Maria!

  10. Ohhhhhhh deeeee-lish Maria! The salty olives to the sweet cranberries…..must taste like heaven!

  11. I’m pretty sure my mouth immediately started watering when I read the title of this post 🙂 Kalamata olives are hard to go wrong with, but throw in feta, kale, garlic and pasta? I’m so there! Dried cranberries are unexpected, but I’m trusting that the sweetness will be a nice addition 🙂

  12. i love how healthy and flavorful this pasta dish is! i’m a huge fan of pasta and adding all these ingredients just sounds so so good right now!

  13. Omgsh Maria! This looks amazing. I can just imagine the kale, cranberries, and feta melding together perfectly. I’m going to try it with a whole grain pasta like you suggested. Thanks!

  14. I’m thinking this is DEFINITELY called crazy pasta because it’s crazy delicious! I love all of its components.

  15. I think you may have created the perfect fall pasta dish. Can’t wait to try it! I may add some roasted butternut squash since I can’t get enough of that in the fall!

  16. Loventhis flavor combo. I always have these ingredients on hand which is even better!

  17. oh wow – i’ve never tried a combo like this. but i love everything you put in here! will have to try it!

  18. This was great! I swapped the cranberries for sun-dried tomatoes and it was still awesome! Also, great tip on setting aside the cup of pasta water…that really added a nice additional salty (but not overbearingly so) flavor.

  19. This pasta was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! I made this for my brother and sister-in-law. Not only did she want the recipe immediately, but I had to make a second batch to have in the house for myself during the week. Thanks for sharing!

  20. This was seriously the best pasta ever. I made a seperate dish for the hubby who does NOT like fruit in his food and he actually said he would eat it with fruit in it next time! Thanks for the great combinations mixed with inexpensive ingredients!

  21. Pinned this a long time ago and finally tried it for the first time tonight. It was an automatic hit and instantly earned a place on our regular roster. What a great combo!

  22. Yummy! The garlic chips make this dish sings and the dried cranberries sweeten it just right. Thank you for sharing. I added butter beans for more protein. This will be a staple for our family!

  23. Wow! We had this last night and I have already sent 4 people the recipe link because I loved it that much. I am with you. I could eat it every night too. Thanks for a great recipe!

  24. Well, I appreciate your efforts in creating this post however I believe you should take the time and elaborate 🙂 Great blog indeed.