You have got to love the simplicity and flavour of this delicious dish! Pasta Aglio e Olio has very few ingredients, so you want to be sure to use high-quality products – especially the extra virgin olive oil and the pecorino. You don’t want to pinch pennies with these ingredients.
Ingredients:
– one pound pasta of your choice
– 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
– 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
– 8 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
– 1 teaspoon of hot pepper
– grated pecorino cheese
– salt & pepper to taste
To enjoy this dish, put a large pot on the boil, and add salt, to cook one pound of pasta of your choice once the water has begun boiling. Nonno prefers linguine to spaghetti, so Nonna opted to use that noodle. The pasta cooks in 10 minutes – and during that time, you can prepare the sauce. You do want to take note to not overcook the pasta – it is best served al dente.
In a frying pan, add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 8 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly. Slowly warm up the oil. You want to be careful to not burn or overheat/cook the garlic. By slowly warming up the oil, the flavour of the garlic will infuse into the oil. Then add 1 teaspoon of hot pepper and allow it too to infuse into the oil. Lastly, add in 1/2 cup of chopped Italian parsley.
As the pasta nears completion, pull about one cup of pasta water from the pot and add about half to the garlic oil. Reserve some extra if the pasta is too dry. Drain the water from the pasta and combine the oil and pasta and transfer it to a platter. Add salt and pepper to taste, and top with lots of pecorino cheese, and if you’d like, top with more chopped parsley.
And that, folks, is it!
Buon appetito!