This is one among my favorite dishes. It’s one of many first issues you possibly can educate your kids to prepare dinner – if they’re adventurous with sturdy flavours – and it’ll stand them in good stead for the remainder of their lives, when cash is brief or cooking for a gang at college or after a late evening.
My spouse, Plaxy, cooks this for us once we arrive in Puglia on the foolish o’clock flight, having been up since 3am. A chilly crisp white wine, a bowl of inexperienced salad and a plate of aglio olio e peperoncino earlier than a siesta, and all is properly with the world.
The spaghetti needs to be made with Italian grains as a result of the roughness of the floor will catch the oil higher. Parmigiano reggiano or grana padano are the 2 cheeses that work finest on this dish (I might advocate a cheese aged for 16-24 months). All the time purchase cheese in items, by no means purchase pre-grated. You should use quite a lot of chilli, even dried. Some individuals just like the chilli hotter, Plaxy solely eats it with habanero – it’s actually right down to your individual style.
Serves 4
spaghetti 500g
chilli 1
garlic 4 cloves
further virgin olive oil 200ml
parmigiano reggiano or grana padano for serving, grated
Begin cooking the spaghetti in loads of boiling salted water, and slice your chilli (round a tablespoonful, or extra if you happen to want) and the cloves of garlic a couple of millimetre thick.
Place somewhat of the olive oil, chilly, within the pan. Put in your garlic, then maintain taking the pan off the warmth and including somewhat extra chilly oil, then returning it to the warmth so that you simply don’t burn the garlic.
As soon as all of the oil is in, you possibly can let the garlic start to tackle somewhat little bit of color and put in your chopped chilli. Let it prepare dinner very briefly, stirring it into the garlic, then pull the pan from the warmth and stir in a few spoonfuls of the cooking water from the pasta – take care, as it could spit.
When the pasta is cooked however nonetheless al dente, carry it out and drain it, however maintain again the cooking water.
Toss the pasta rather well by way of the oil, garlic and chilli, including somewhat extra cooking water from the pasta whether it is too dry, as you need the garlicky sizzling oil to essentially cling to the spaghetti, and serve straightaway.
End with some grated parmesan or grana padano.
Tailored from Made at Dwelling by Giorgio Locatelli (4th Property, £26). To order a replica for £22.88, go to guardianbookshop.com
