· A big pot half full of boiling water (A pot that is big enough to hold the pasta without breaking it in half. It doesn’t have to be a giant pot, as you put the pasta in the boiling water, you push it down and that’s fine)
· 1 pound (approximately ½ kilo) of spaghetti
· Sauté pan – big enough to hold the pasta after it is cooked.
· Olive Oil – about ½ cup, plus more for later
· 5 or 6 good sized cloves of garlic (if your garlic cloves are small, add a few more or if you're crazy for garlic, add more)
· 1 ½ teaspoons crushed dried red pepper flakes (peperoncino) – if the flakes look brown, the taste is dead or dying, so make sure the flakes are nice and red. (If you love HOT, add more - but consider your guests).
· Salt & black pepper
· Parmigiano-Reggiano – if you can get one big piece and each take what you want with a grater,that is good.
When it comes to a boil, add the spaghetti, stir and let it come to a boil again. The pasta should be cooked about 6-8 minutes because you want it al dente – firm to the bite, not mushy.
Stir it after you put it in.
While the pasta is cooking:
Chop up the garlic into small pieces – It doesn’t have to be super small. Everyone has different opionions about this. Marcella doesn't chop them at all, she justs throws them into the oil, lets them cook and then takes them out. There's plenty of garlic flavor there, but I prefer them chopped pretty well.
Pour about ½ cup Olive Oil into a large sauté pan and put it over medium heat. Add the garlic & pepperoncino and sauté until garlic is translucent, and turn off the heat. The garlic should get a little golden, but not burnt.
When the spaghetti is al dente(you can usually tell when the boiling spaghetti forms a circle in the pot as it boils- taste it. It should be firm, not hard, not soft, but firm) – put the frying pan back on the heat. By the way, 'al dente' means 'to the tooth', that is, when you bite it the pasta shouldn't be mushy, it should be firm enough for to bite it.
Put the pasta into the sauté pan and mix it with the garlic and pepperoncino. Do not pour out the water that the pasta cooked in yet.
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| So many types of pepper. Most are great tasting adventures! |
I like to add about ½ cup of the cooking water to the pasta and mix it again – let it cook just a little. If it is too dry, add ¼ cup more water and try again. You do not want it like a soup – but you don’t want it super dry either. When you taste the spaghetti, it should be firm, you should taste the oil and garlic and some heat from the pepperoncino – and it should be moist – it should not be swimming in oil or only have the taste of garlic. It should just be delicious.
Serve with the cheese – as much cheese as you want. Also put the olive oil on the table, people often want some more. And if you're anything like my friend Marcella, put the peperoncino on the table too. She can't get enough!
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