Recipe: Pasta Aglio e Olio

I first saw this amazing quick pasta dish being made in the Netflix film ‘Chef’ (100% great to watch when you’re procrastinating your next lab report or essay) and it looked delicious. Thanks to social media sites stalking my life, it didn’t take long for a recipe to appear on my YouTube suggested.

The simplicity of the recipe means that you can taste and appreciate every ingredient – which is why I would recommend using fresh ingredients if you have the time (however for everyone who is busy with work I’ve included substitution ingredients which make the recipe even quicker!)

This is a very versatile recipe. The simple, basic flavours are a great base to which you can add additional ingredients – from my experience, mushrooms, chicken and fresh chillies work really well. You would add the additional ingredients at the start of step 3 – be careful that the garlic doesn’t burn so add it after your extra ingredients.

This is an Italian classic as you can tell by the name. It literally translates to pasta with garlic and oil so nothing too fancy but it will be sure to wow your friends who love the prospect of being made an authentic dish. Bonus points if you wave your hands around as you say it.

Another great thing about this recipe’s simplicity is that it makes this a great one to practice to perfection. That means you can become a pro at this to really become the show off of the group. A dish like this can quickly become second nature to you and your flare to it can become an staple of any group meal.

Ingredients

This will make 4-6 portions depending on how hungry you are!

• 500g of your favourite pasta
• 5 tbsp olive oil (can substitute a different so long at it doesn’t have a strong flavour)
• 5 big cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (can be substituted this for 4 tbsp garlic paste)
• Dried birds eye chilli flakes
• Bunch of parsley, finely chopped (can be substituted for 5 tbsp dried parsley)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (can be substituted for pre-ground black pepper)

Instructions

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

• Boil pasta until ready (follow packet instructions; always salt your water) - set aside 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later. Leave the pasta in the sieve so you can use the same pot to cook the rest of the dish.
• While the pasta is boiling is a great time to slice the garlic and chop the parsley
• In the pot which had the pasta, add the olive oil and turn on the heat.
• You want to make a layer of oil at the bottom of the pot, but you can use less oil if you prefer however this might result in the pasta feeling a little dry.
• Once the oil is HOT, add the sliced garlic, salt, pepper, and half the parsley - mix until the garlic is golden then add the chilli flakes.
• Add the pasta, the pasta water, and the remaining raw parsley and mix!
• Plate up, take a pic for your story, and munch. Try serving with grated cheese – parmesan or cheddar work best - garlic bread and a leafy salad.