We are big pasta eaters. I would like to eat less but with the kids and all their activities sometimes it’s the easy way out when I haven’t preplanned our weekly menu or we don’t get home from Musical Theater class until 7:30 at night. (They are teaching my daughter songs from the movie Hairspray…I’m so excited!)
The quickest pasta recipe I have is for Aglio E Olio which is Garlic and Oil. I alway’s have these ingredients on hand. If I don’t then I deem it impossible to make anything for dinner and we get Thai take out that night. I use garlic, oil and red pepper flakes in almost everything I make.
What was fun when making my lastest Aglio E Olio dinner is that I used Elephant Garlic. Have you ever seen the cloves of Elephant Garlic? They are humungous! The clove pictured above would easily equal 6 regular sized garlic cloves. I had to quarter the clove before thinly slicing it. I used another clove last night for a different dinner and could actually small dice it like an onion! Crazy!
I hope you enjoy my recipe!
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6-8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- lemon zest (optional)
- Cook spaghetti according to the directions on the package.
- Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the garlic. Stir semi-constantly making sure not to burn the garlic. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the red pepper flakes.
- Lower the heat to a lowest flame and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is soft and slightly browned.
- Add the cooked pasta to the saute pan and combine with the oil and garlic.
- Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a serving dish and zest a lemon over the top.
- Serve immediately!
- I sometimes like to sprinkle some Nutritional Yeast on top to give the dish a cheesy element. My kids always add the Nooch to theirs!