A few years back while on a motorcycle tour of Northern Italy, I stopped on afternoon at a sidewalk cafe in a small village for lunch. I had no idea what I ordered, but when it arrived it looked like a bowl of plain spaghetti pasta but tasted amazing. I spent years trying to repeat that lunch but never as good as the small village chef prepared it. This simple recipe is as close as I’ve come to date. Good luck…
Ingredients
- 16 oz Pasta – spaghetti or other noodles
- 4 oz Olive oil
- 6 Garlic cloves – peeled, crushed, and sliced
- 0.5 tsp Crushed red peppers
- Parmesan cheese (optional) – grated
- Fresh basil (optional)
- Fresh parsley (optional)
- Kosher salt
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Cook the pasta in a generously salted pot (~2 Tbl Ksalt per lb of pasta).
- Heat large pan over low heat. Add olive oil and let warm. Add garlic and pepper flakes.
- Sauté garlic and flakes 2-3 mins. careful not to let garlic burn (or it will get bitter).
- I usually make a garlic confit by slowly boiling garlic in olive oil over low heat several hours. If you do, strain out the garlic because it’s bitter.
- Drain pasta but retain at least a cup of the pasta water.
- Toss pasta into pan and add at least 4 oz of pasta water (more if dry).
- Stir continuously on med heat until pasta is evenly coated. (add more water if dry).
- Add more salt or crushed pepper if desired.
- You can either stir in grated parmesan.
- Serve immediately.
Note: I sometimes like to serve with slices of grilled chicken or fish and fresh basil.
