Midnight Pasta

When you're hungry at midnight and there's nothing much in the cupboard, this is what you make. It's an old Italian trick — aglio e olio, they call it. Garlic and oil. Italians came to Australia in droves after the war, brought their food with them, taught us how to cook properly. This is their gift to late-night cooks everywhere. You boil pasta, fry garlic in good olive oil until it's golden and fragrant, add chilli if you're brave, toss it all together. Five ingredients, maybe six. Takes longer to boil the water than to make the sauce. Simple, honest, perfect.

Ingredients

100g spaghetti
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 small red chilli, sliced (optional)
4 tablespoons good olive oil
Small handful fresh parsley, chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to packet instructions until al dente.
While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Add sliced garlic and chilli.
Cook garlic gently, stirring often, until golden and fragrant — about 3-4 minutes. Don't let it brown or it'll taste bitter.
Reserve a cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti.
Add the drained pasta directly to the pan with the garlic oil. Toss to coat, adding splashes of pasta water to create a silky sauce.
Stir through chopped parsley. Taste and add salt if needed.
Serve immediately with a generous grating of parmesan on top.

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition (per serve)