Brightening Up a Dreary Friday
It's a dreary, damp January day with a cold rain falling. Out running errands this afternoon, I flashed back to a similar Friday night when I was a grad student many years ago. Like most grad students, I was living on next to nothing but found this wonderful winter comfort food. It was perfect for dinner on one of the nights when I walked home from the subway in the rain in a soaking wet winter overcoat. This classic Roman dish will serve 4 as a main course, 6-8 as a first.
Aglio e Olio
1 pound dried pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or your favorite pasta)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic is lightly browned. Remove from heat. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid, and place in a bowl for tossing and serving. Add olive oil mixture and toss. Add the reserved cooking liquid if mixture seems dry. Serve immediately.
The garlic and oil sauce is done as soon as the garlic just begins to turn golden around the edges. It will get bitter if you cook it any longer.
You can jazz this up a little with the addition of capers, parsley and/or thinly sliced scallions and add a couple of shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano to the top of each serving. I've got a little pancetta left from cooking earlier in the week. I'll julienne it, zap off a little of the drippings in the microwave and sprinkle it over the top of my dish.
Classically, the fat here is all extra virgin olive oil, but I like to make it half and half with unsalted butter (the garlic likes it this way, too.) With a tossed salad dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette and dessert crafted of a perfect, ripe Bosc pear with bel paese cheese (slice the pear thinly and spread each slice with a little of the soft, sweet cheese) this is still a cheap meal that feels like an end of the week feast and takes about 15 minutes.