As a young chap, I lived with my grandparents in the typical "Everyone Loves Raymond" environment; that is to say, my parents lived on the second floor apartment of a two family home while my grandparents occupied the first floor apartment. On most Saturday afternoons I would wander down to my grandparents place and receive a boatful of kisses and the eternal question, "what do you want to eat for lunch?" And my answer would always be, "Nonna,can I please have Pasta Alio e Olio?"
Pasta Alio e Olio, translated literally as pasta with garlic and oil, is still one of my favorites and I end up making it a few times a month and when I'm filling particularly lazy once per week.
Ingredients:
- Pasta: linguine or linguine fini works nice for this dish
- One bunch of finely chopped parsley
- Thinly chopped garlic (5-6 cloves).
- 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste.
- Red Pepper Flakes
Process:
Bring a large pot of fresh water to boil and drop the pasta into the pot. Add a bit of salt and stir (linguine usually takes between 7-10 minutes, depending on brand).
While the pasta cooks, add olive oil to a hot pan along with the garlic, sautéing slowly. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Drain the pasta and save a bit of the starchy water. Add the pasta to the saute pan along with the parsley and mix well (at this point either add a bit more olive oil or some of the pasta water, I usually do both). Use kitchen tongues to work the condiment into the pasta.
Finally, add the cheese and mix one more time. Plate the pasta and add a little bit more cheese. The pasta dish is simple, classic, and real southern Italian comfort food.
Italian
