Garlic and oil-smothered pasta.

What do you do when you want to cook something but don’t have a lot of ingredients in your pantry? Easy: make a simple pasta dish that’s ready in a jiffy.

So let’s talk noodles. In my past posts, I’ve already shared a few: Creamy Garlic & Dill Pasta, Peanut & Sesame Noodles, and Pasta Arrabbiata. Now what do these yummy dishes have in common? Simple: they all have sauces. These pasta dishes are smothered in very satisfying sauces, from a creamy base to a peanut butter-sesame base to a tangy fiery base. These sauces require a number of ingredients, some you have to buy in the store because you don’t have them lying around in your pantry. But what if you’re short on ingredients but still want pasta? Well, fret not because the pasta dish I’ll be sharing today only needs a few ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Lo and behold: pasta aglio e olio. Aglio means garlic and olio means, you guessed it, oil. Garlic and oil (a good quality one) are the two ingredients (other than the noodles) you need for this dish, then from there you can customize it to however you want. You can add more green veggies like green beans,  or asparagus, add some lemon zest for a bit of zing, add some truffle oil to finish the dish off, or add protein like Quorn or shrimp to make it a non-meatless dish; basically, the possibilities are endless, all thanks to such a simple but oh so indulgent dish.

Hope you enjoy!

PASTA AGLIO E OLIO

(adapted from PinchAndSwirl.com)

YIELD: 2

8 oz pasta of choice

4 - 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

¼ - ½ c olive oil

¼ - ½ t crushed red pepper flakes

3 – 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves (you can also use parsley)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: juice and/or zest of one lemon 

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, then set aside.

2. In a pan, heat up oil then add garlic. Cook until tender and slightly brown. Add in red pepper flakes.

3. Turn the heat down then toss in the pasta. Mix until noodles are well coated with the oil.

4. Turn off heat then add in the basil leaves (and lemon zest, if using) and season generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot.