I was chatting with my best friend Jo yesterday while waiting for my partner to get home from work when it dawned on me I should pamper him with a hot meal. We already have some chicken that we were going to have for dinner but I thought why not have it with some aglio e olio. A man who works hard should be pampered and treated with more TLC, no? Nothing beats coming home after a long day to good food, vino and laughs. I’m not a domesticated person but I learned this from my mother – to do the best you can for your family and loved ones.
So with about 20 minutes before he got home, I scrambled and prepped a simple yet satisfying spaghetti aglio e olio served with grilled chicken. This is easy for working parents to prepare for family dinners. It’s better than having fast food!
Here’s the ingredients for this dish.
- 1 pound uncooked pasta
- 6 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 tablespoon red chilli flakes (in my case i just sprinkled as much as I wanted. The spicier the better)
- Salt
- Freshly grated black pepper
- Dried Italian herbs (ideally you would like to use fresh parsley but I did’t have fresh ones available)
- 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a pasta bowl
- Combine garlic and olive oil in a cold skillet. Cook over medium heat to slowly toast garlic, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low when olive oil begins to bubble. Cook and stir until garlic is golden brown, about another 5 minutes. Make sure you do not overcook the garlic. If you did, it you will end up with a bitter taste in your pasta.
- Mix red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt into the pasta. Pour in olive oil and garlic, and sprinkle on Italian parsley and half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Toss well to ensure all ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Sprinkle remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and serve.