Sauce of the Day: Aglio e Olio Pasta Sauce
I decided to go through my magazine collection with the goal of finding some yummy long lost recipes and getting rid of years worth of “I’ll cook that later” clutter. Cooking Light mags from 2001, a Martha mag from 1997… good grief!
The great part about the task was two-fold: most of those recipes are online so there’s no retyping anything and I can free up the closet/bookshelf space. Okay, three-fold: I could watch the playoffs, peek in on Giada on the Food Network, and “clean” all at the same time (Go Colts!).
Luckily, I located nearly all the recipes online. Thanks to my husband, I was able to import them into the recipe database he is designing for me with a quick copy & paste. Voila! Recipes are easy to locate, in electronic form, searchable by ingredient - and look at all that free space on the bookshelves!
Aglio e Olio, or garlic and oil, is a perfect marriage of simple flavors. Next to peanut butter and chocolate, it’s my favorite combination! I found this recipe in an old Better Homes and Gardens magazine this weekend and reduced the fat by half. This dish takes no time to prepare and is very flavorful. I paired it with some oven-roasted broccoli courtesy of Pinch My Salt and rosemary bread, courtesy of me 
Ingredients
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
4 Tbsp EVOO
8 oz uncooked fettuccine
1/4 cup Pecorino-Romano cheese
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste
Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions.
In a sauce pan, cook the garlic and red pepper in EVOO over medium heat for 1 minute.
Add drained pasta to pan and toss.
Add cheese, parsley, and black pepper and toss to coat.
Add salt to taste
Serves 4. For variety, toss in 1 1/2 cup of the veggie of your choice, such as steamed asparagus cut into 3-inch long pieces.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:16 pm
This is a great meal that seems as though it won’t weigh you down - nice and light. I bet it would be great with whole wheat fettuccine as well. Thanks for this!
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I must admit, I used the fact that it was so light to go back for a wee bit of seconds
January 23rd, 2007 at 12:46 am
This is a classic pasta dish that you can find on the menu at most restaurants throughout Italy. I like mine extra spicy
I might try Pebbles suggestion and use whole wheat pasta with this sauce sometime. I’m not a fan of whole wheat pasta but I try to rotate it in every once in a while! Thanks for the link to my broccoli!
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
[...] Last week, Pinch My Salt featured a very tasty recipe for oven-roasted broccoli. As soon as I saw it, I literally ran downstairs to make it for lunch. Now, that wasn’t the first time I’ve run into the kitchen inspired by a tasty recipe or picture (those other recipes typically involve chocolate, heavy cream, and/or fritos), but it might have been the first time I’ve ever gotten excited over broccoli. Okay, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that it was the first time I’ve ever gotten excited over broccoli. After having it as a side to last night’s Aglio e Olio (and for lunch last week), the broccoli served as inspiration - I whipped up a batch of oven-roasted broccoli-inspired asparagus for lunch, substituting the broccoli in Nicole’s recipe for half a bunch of asparagus. I hang my head in shame as I can offer you no picture of the asparagus - it was gone in a blink. I did, however, manage to control myself long enough last night to let my husband take a picture of the broccoli. The bottom line - everything green tastes better oven-roasted. With garlic « Sauce of the Day: Aglio e Olio Pasta Sauce [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 2:40 am
Yum, yum! I’ve made this before, but I think I’ll have to try your variation.
January 24th, 2007 at 2:47 am
Ugh- bad link above…
January 18th, 2008 at 8:13 am
[...] We do love our pasta around here. My “I don’t feel like cooking tonight” meal is pasta, it’s our version of frozen pizza for an easy dinner. He gets meat sauce or Arrabbiata sauce from the freezer and I’ll take Arrabbiata sauce or whip up some aglio e olio. [...]
January 30th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Have you tried adding roasted red peppers to this Aglio? It’s something I’m thinking of trying, but it would be for a crowd. Good Idea? or not?
January 30th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Tess - I can’t give you an unbiased opinion. I *love* roasted red peppers in just about everything! I’ve eaten it alone in pasta with oil so I think it would be just fine.