OMG. I’ve been doing it wrong all these years…cooking garlic that is! Two days ago I was scrolling through Facebook when a mouth-watering pasta dish popped up on my screen. It was a recipe for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio aka spaghetti and olive oil! Nothing gourmet about it but it looked so delicious that I changed up my dinner menu, had Jonathan pick up some fresh parm cheese, and I whipped it up for a midweek dinner. Sure enough it was loaded with flavor and surprisingly light. It might just be my new favorite summertime dish!
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Ingredients and Supplies:
- Large saucepan
- Large saute pan (I used this one)
- 6 cloves garlic
- kosher salt
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Black pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- Fresh parsley
- Block of fresh parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Bring water to a boil in large saucepan. Sprinkle generously with salt.
- Once water begins to boil, slice all six garlic cloves into thin pieces. I can assure you it will not taste too garlic-y
- Heat sauté pan to medium heat and add approximately 1/2 cup oil as well as garlic slices.
- Cook on medium until oil begins to bubble, then turn heat to medium low. You do NOT want the garlic to burn. Stir occasionally to ensure garlic browns but does not burn.
- After a few minutes when the garlic is lightly toasted scoop 1/4 cup boiling pasta water and combine with garlic and oil mixture. Remove sauté pan from heat and stir.
- Drain but do not rinse your pasta and return pasta to large saucepan. Mix in pepper, red pepper flakes (to taste), and a generous amount of freshly grated parm cheese. Stir to combine.
- Dump pasta mixture into sauté pan and use tongs to combine oil and garlic mixture.
- Top with more grated cheese and fresh parsley.
There you have it; garlic infused olive oil sauce! Try it and see for yourself. I have been cooking with minced garlic for as long as I can remember, but it’s easy to burn, and never as flavorful as I want it to be. The secret is in the slice! Click here for more recipes and kitchen hacks.
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