Artichoke, Fennel and Olives over Penne

This was the second recipe we tried in Clean Foods, a cookbook I got for Christmas. The other recipe we made from the book was very good--a root vegetable soup last winter. The cookbook is divided into four sections, based on the seasons. Everything is vegan.

I picked this recipe because we had kalamata olives and arugula to use up. Unfortunately, by the time we got to making the recipe, the arugula was pretty wilted and not so good anymore, but we still used it.

The recipe was good, but it needed a little something more--some type of protein (maybe chickpeas or tofu, to keep it vegetarian) would be good. When I had the leftovers for lunch, I added a bit of hot sauce and that was pretty darn good.

Here is the recipe for Artichoke, Fennel and Olives over Penne

-1 pound penne (we used a combination of penne and rigatoni, because we wanted to use it up. I think we ended up using about 12 oz. because it's all we had--it was more than enough!)

-2 tbs. olive oil

-1 onion, diced

-2 garlic cloves, minced (Nate was in charge of cutting garlic--I'm sure he added two or three extra cloves)

-1 cup canned artichoke hearts, quartered

-1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

-1 fennel bulb, halved, cored and thinly sliced

-1 bunch arugula

-1 cup chopped tomatoes or canned (we used canned)

-1/4 cup chopped parsley

-1 tbs. fresh lemon juice

-salt, pepper to taste

Cook penne according to directions on package. Drain, rinse and return to pot. Drizzle with 1 tbs. olive oil and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in 2 tbs. olive oil until soft (about 3 minutes). Add artichokes, olives, fennel and arugula. Saute until heated through (about 5 minutes). Add tomatoes and saute another 2 minutes. Add parsley and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve over pasta.

The book says it makes four servings, but our batch--even with less pasta--make six huge servings.