Macaroni Aglio Olio

Macaroni Aglio Olio

 

 

 

 

 

What can I say? It was after yoga class and I was famished. Ravenous and desperately craving some comfort food. I foraged and rummaged. After 15 minutes of burrowing through the fridge and cabinets, I emerged victorious with the following : Chili padi, Garlic, Parmesan and, yes, Macaroni.

I could have been a purist, I could have chosen at that very moment to say, no, its either linguine or spaghetti for Aglio Olio and nothing else. I caved in. Let's face it. Who can resist that heady paring of freshly sliced garlic with chili padi baptized in heavenly olive oil and blessed with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan?

Shun the non-believer I say.

Half way through the meal, I remembered to take a picture. SEE? I wasn't selfish, I still shared.  

And yes, in the spirit of sharing, I give you my recipe. This is an original from me and as much as I do not mind people re-posting my recipe, please do give credit when credit is due.:)



Macaroni Aglio Olio
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Garlic, thinly sliced (2 bulbs) - I like it Garlicky
• Chili Padi ,sliced (6)
• Macaroni (200g)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salt (1 tablespoon)
• Olive Oil (The WHOLE BOTTLE - Just kidding.)

Method

1.  Bring a pot of water to boil. When it comes to a boil, throw in your macaroni, salt and drizzle in some olive oil. Turn off the heat and drain when cooked through. 
2. While waiting for the macaroni to cook, peel and slice your garlic along with the chili padi.
3. Heat up your pan. You can tell its ready when water droplets start to skittle and dance before evaporating almost instantly.
4. Drizzle olive oil into the pan, just enough to cover the base area of your pan. (Don't you just love how precise I am, given everyone has different pan sizes?)
5. Bring the heat down to the lowest and throw in your chili padi.
6.  When the Chili Padi is cooked (the oil will start to have a slight tinge of red), throw in the garlic.
7. Fry the garlic to a point where its cooked through but not burnt. It would have turned a slightly darker shade of yellow and be slightly crisp around the edges
8.  Quickly add the macaroni into the garlic, olive oil and chili mix. Turn off the heat and stir.

 Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

TIP:

• What makes the dish is really cooking the garlic and chili well. And of course, really good olive oil makes the world of a difference.
• Take care with the garlic as burnt garlic is absolutely disgusting as it gets stuck to your teeth and raw garlic has too much bite and will spoil your dish.
• Slightly burning the chili padi just makes it sweeter. If you want it really spicy, try squeezing out the little seeds and letting them fry in the oil, it will be be HOT HOT HOT. 

Feel free to ask any questions! And more importantly, have fun making it!

S.T