Pasta Aglia Olio
By: Ann Minard
Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 3:48am

Ingredients




1 pound of thin pasta
8 anchovies (These are optional but you would surprised that they taste more nutty than fishy)
6 cloves of garlic grated
3/4 cup olive oil
salt&pepper
fresh parsley chopped

Preparation

1 Prepare the pasta water by bringing to a boil and then adding a lot of kosher salt. Grate the garlic. Heat up a pan with the oil and saute the garlic LOW & Slow, this is important as it needs to be very low or else it will burn quickly. Add the anchovies and mash up into a paste. Continue to saute LOW & SLOW until it is a golden tone but not too dark.Take off heat and set aside. 2 Drain the pasta and reserve a cup of the water. Now you dump the pasta back into the pot and add the sauce tossing to evenly distribute the sauce. Add the reserved water if it is too dry. Add the parsley, fresh ground pepper, a drizzle more of olive oil, and serve with grated Parmesan if you like.

About


Aglio Olio is an Italian sauce made up of garlic and oil (aglio-garlic & olio-oil) and has a long history. It is mentioned in the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), A Roman, wrote that when garlic is “beaten up in oil and vinegar it swells up in foam to a surprising size”. This was how the ancient Romans ate their pasta before the the tomato was brought to Europe by the Spaniards. I love this recipe and it is my go-to meal for days when I don't have time to prepare anything in advance.