Saturday, August 14, 2010

Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Another recipe from Clara's Kitchen. It could not be simpler. Three ingredients. Garlic, olive oil, spaghetti. It is so delicious and one of our favorites.



Clara's recipe:

Pasta with Garlic and Oil

1 pound pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

"Use a small frying pan to fry up the garlic. It will heat the garlic evenly and also prevent the oil from splashing around."

1. Boil water and cook the pasta. (Follow the directions on the box to find out how long - anywhere from 5-13 minutes.)

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan. When it's hot, toss in the garlic. Sauté until the garlic is nice and brown.

3. Drain the pasta and pour it into a large bowl with the olive oil and garlic. Toss a few times to get all the pasta coated, and then serve.

My notes:
You may of course change the amounts for a smaller group, but this gives the ratio; if a half pound pasta then 1/8 cup or 2 Tablespoons oil, and so on.
I prefer to put the garlic through a press rather than mince it.
I didn't cook it until brown.
I also didn't toss it in a large bowl - we just put the garlic and oil on our own portions.


You may know the recipe by its Italian name, Aglio Olio.

We had this with the tomato salad; yes, again! We have it as often as we have tomatoes on hand.

18 comments:

  1. look at the garlic! looks like you grow garlic in your farm. How impressive!!

    Thanks for the recipe. This simple dish with tomato salad suits well with the warm weather in Thailand.

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  2. This is something I've made very often when I was with my first husband, who was from Sicily. It was the quickest and easiest way to fill our tummies after a long day at work, when neither of us would want to stand in the kitchen for a long time - and it is healthy for the garlic and if you use good quality olive oil :-)

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  3. Sounds delicious. We eat a similar dish quite often, but with a lot of spinach and a little crushed read pepper in the olive oil and garlic.

    The tomato salad sounds like a wonderful accompaniment.

    :)

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  4. Jessi - yes, we began growing garlic a few years ago, and are so pleased with the results. The tomato salad is perfect for the summer!

    Librarian - this is a dish we love too. There are some stories coming out now about various olive oil companies not being truthful about the ingredients. I have to spend some time checking out the ones I buy - I've always bought bottles of the more obscure labels that sounded high quality. We'll see...

    Aisling - so, so good to hear from you! We make pasta with different sautéed vegetables, too, but this one we keep just for the garlic. :<)

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  5. I've always bought bottles of the more obscure labels that sounded high quality.

    Me, too! Maybe you can share your research results with us!

    This sounds like a delicious meal, but my carnivore husband would ask where the "dead animal" is! Might be good with a few shrimp thrown in.

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  6. Les, I do intend to look further into the olive oil situation. I buy mine in health food stores, mostly. Often they are organic or have won some sort of olive oil competition. :<) Haven't had any dead animals or dead fish in our household for 39 years now!

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  7. That bread on your header about poked my eyes out when I clicked on your blog! LOL

    Love garlic, but it does not like me :)

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  8. Bibliophile, I'm going to do a followup post about the newish bread machine soon. Sorry about the garlic. I have a food like that - sweet peppers which I used to love.

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  9. oh, the bread, that great bread - I may just have to go and make some - oh, but it's so darn hot here

    maybe I'll wait a week (and it'll probably be snowing), and I'll make the pasta dish tonight

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  10. Janice, I am planning to do a post on an update to the bread machine soon, I hope.

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  11. Delicious, Nan! and I'm impressed by your garlic. I like to make this dish with chorizo, too.

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  12. Simple things are the best! This also works with butter and garlic, and my favorite: chopped green olives and a little butter. (Neither one's as good for me, but what the heck?)

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  13. Clara's book is moving through the library thanks to you and Niki and then myself for promoting it...love her!
    Thanks for sharing,
    Joanne
    P.S.It's the simple things in life, including food prep, isn't it?

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  14. Thanks for coming by to talk about your variations! And Joanne, I'm really thrilled people are so interested in her book. It is a treasure.

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  15. Gosh! I wish I lived next door to you. You are such an amazing cook.

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  16. Kay, thanks, but honestly I don't ever make anything very complicated. Simple is my motto. :<)

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