Spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and chillis

watna

I was away in Prague recently and ate this delicious meal on two nights in two different restaurants. It was gorgeous. I'm looking to make something similar.

I found this recipe online which looks pretty similar. I was going to make it up as I went along (I generally cook "by feel") but thought I'd better check.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/spaghetti-with-olive-oil-garlic-and-chilli,724,RC.html

It looks nice enough. One of the dishes I had in Prague had Pancetta in it so i think I'll add that. My concern is that the dishes I had in Prague seemed much tastier then just the ingredients in the recipe would suggest. Does anyone have any recipes for a similar dish? Any suggestions?

I was thinking of adding Parmesan cheese. (I think there was a cheesy hint to my Prague dishes) Also, both dishes I had in Prague had green herbs or something in it. I can't think what would be best with the recipe. Parsley perhaps?

EDIT: Would Pecorino cheese be better perhaps? Hmm!

Polythene Pam

watna wrote: »

I was away in Prague recently and ate this delicious meal on two nights in two different restaurants. It was gorgeous. I'm looking to make something similar.

Hey Watna, it sounds a lot like you had Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino
That's the way I make it... it's very VERY easy and quick, infact it's very popular in Italy as a late night meal when there's nothing else to eat in the fridge..
Fry the oil with the garlic until it's golden then add the crushed chillies. Meanwhile cook your spaghetti, drain it (always make it al dente ) then pour it into the pan with the oil and mix it all together.
Now, generally you would NEVER put cheese with this, but there's nothing like melt parmigiano so use it generously when your dish it's still hot.
Enjoy!!
Francesca

Alun

The secret with these kinds of dishes if you can call it that, is not to actually fry the garlic and chilli but really you just want to warm the oil and let the garlic and chilli infuse into it. You're right it's surprisingly good .. good quality pasta and good quality EV olive oil helps in this regard. The herbs would be flat leaf parsley I'd imagine.

I do a dish just like this and add some crab meat and a few peas as well .. yummy

watna

Great! Thanks for the help. I just wanted to see had anyone made it before. I think I'll have to make sure to have fresh pasta to do it justice!

NextSteps

I wouldn't use fresh pasta - it's not that kind of dish. Use the best spaghetti or linguine (Barilla is good) you can find. When you've drained the spaghetti, put the empty saucepan back on the heat, add oil, chopped chilli and garlic and give it a few seconds. Then throw in your pasta, add salt, a bit more oil, chopped parsley or coriander if you have it, and you're away. Great food and only one saucepan to wash!
Chorizo would be good but I wouldn't add parmesan myself, again, it's not that kind of dish.

Real 'empty cupboard and it's late' dish, but a great one! Idea to plate in about 12 minutes.

Edit: olive oil, obviously.

watna

Made it last night. February is "miser month" in our house so trying to cook a lot and make cheaper meals. Couldn't find any fecking fresh chillis in the supermarket (everytime I go to get them we can't find them anywhere - I generally by veg at a farmers market) so had to use crappy dried chilli flakes. It was still nice enough but definitely needed real chillies! Didn't add cheese and it was nice without it.

Alun

watna wrote: »

Couldn't find any fecking fresh chillis in the supermarket (everytime I go to get them we can't find them anywhere - I generally by veg at a farmers market) so had to use crappy dried chilli flakes.

I buy chillies (green and red), slice them down the middle, deseed them and and freeze them in a plastic container. They take literally seconds to defrost either just from the warmth in your fingers or under a cold tap. Not quite as good as fresh, but soooo easy.

watna

Interesting, My OH is of Indian descent so obviously loves his spicy food. That could be a good way to stock up on chillis.

Thanks!

Dizzyblonde

In Spring i usually take three chilli seeds and put them in a pot on my windowsill. When they sprout I throw out the 2 weakest ones then nurture the strong one, putting it in a bigger pot when it gets big. I get a fair few chillies on it, and it looks fab. You can put the plant outside in the summer. All it needs is the odd feed with tomato food when the fruit start to grow. You can use the chillies when they're green or wait until they turn red.

The Sweeper

I make a variation on this, same quick and easy deal though - boil your spaghetti, drain it and into the hot pot it just came from, pour glugs of extra virgin olive oil, some crushed garlic, some chopped fresh chili, then add some sliced black olives (if you can get the ones in the jars that are moist but not in liquid, take the stones out and chop them - they have a fantastic flavour), some sliced semi-sundried tomatoes and some capers. I also add anchovies, but I understand they're an acquired taste.

Mr. Presentable

watna wrote: »

Great! Thanks for the help. I just wanted to see had anyone made it before. I think I'll have to make sure to have fresh pasta to do it justice!

Can't do fresh pasta "al dente"

watna

I'm actually not a fan of Al Dente pasta, that's probably very uncool!

Thanks for all the advice, I tried it again tonight with real chillis and it was lovely. So simple but tasty. I need a few more tries to perfect it to our taste but I'll be adding it to my repertoire!

MAJD... will def try the olives and sun dried tomatoes next time. Sounds yum.

p.s. I made the mistake of rubbing my eye after chopping all the chillis to put in the freezer (thanks Alun!)... not good!

Polythene Pam

nipplenuts wrote: »

Can't do fresh pasta "al dente"

yes and it's actually not the right pasta for that kind of receipe, you need dried pasta so it won't be as heavy as it would be with fresh pasta.