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Baking dish filled with spaghetti mixed with white beans, sprinkled cheese, fresh rosemary, and a halved lemon. Green olives and glasses are nearby.
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Dirty Martini Spaghetti (Dump & Bake)

This dirty martini spaghetti is briny, lemony and deeply savory with baked feta and Castelvetrano olives melted into a sauce that coats every strand. Dump and bake in 40 minutes!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Dishes, Pastas
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Diet: Halal, Hindu, Kosher, Vegetarian
Keyword: dump and bake pasta, dump and bake spaghetti, martini spaghetti, olive spaghetti
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Sarah Bond

Ingredients

  • 1 8-oz block feta cheese
  • 12 pitted Castelvetrano olives
  • 1 lemon halved
  • 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic skins removed*
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 8 oz spaghetti
  • ½ cup pasta water reserved from cooking the spaghetti
  • 1 15-oz can white beans such as navy, cannellini, or butter beans, drained
  • To serve: fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400° (204°C).
  • Dump: To a large casserole dish, add 1 8-oz block feta cheese, 12 pitted Castelvetrano olives (pitted and halved), 1 lemon (halved), 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary (finely chopped), and 3 cloves garlic (skins removed). Drizzle 4 Tbsp olive oil evenly over everything.
    A baking dish with feta cheese, olive oil, green olives, garlic cloves, chopped herbs, and halved lemons arranged inside.
  • Bake: Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until feta is soft.
    A baking dish with feta cheese, green olives, lemon halves, garlic cloves, herbs, and olive oil, with a fork resting in the dish.
  • Spaghetti: While everything bakes, cook 8 oz spaghetti according to package instructions until al dente (it should be mostly tender with a little firmness when you bite into it).
    When finished cooking spaghetti, reserve ½ cup pasta water that the spaghetti cooked in.
    Cooked spaghetti draining in a metal strainer over a glass bowl on a gray textured surface.
  • Stir: Remove casserole dish from the oven and use a fork to mash the garlic until smooth and mash feta and olives into chunks. Remove the lemon halves and juice one of the halves into the dish.
    Stir in reserved pasta water to create a loose sauce, then stir in cooked spaghetti and 1 15-oz can white beans (drained).
    A baking dish with crumbled tofu or cheese mixed with herbs and oil, a metal citrus juicer, and a fork resting inside.
  • Serve warm, topped with fresh cracked black pepper and drizzled with remaining lemon juice (from remaining lemon half) if desired.
    Baked spaghetti mixed with white beans, crumbled feta cheese, and herbs in a white ceramic dish with a serving fork.

Notes

*For the garlic lovers, I sometimes like to roast a whole bulb. Just trim off the top so the inside of each clove is exposed, drizzle olive oil into the cloves, then wrap in foil. Roast with everything else (but it may need a little longer!) until the cloves are caramelized and golden brown. Squeeze 4 to 5 cloves into the pasta sauce.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. The sauce thickens as it sits and absorbs into the pasta overnight. Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat with a splash of water or olive oil to loosen, or in the microwave in 60-second intervals stirring in between. Not ideal for freezing, as the feta-based sauce can separate and the pasta texture suffers after thawing.
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