Pasta Aglio e Olio (garlic and oil)

This simple, yet amazing dish is a southern Italian classic that originated in Naples. It truly is a shining example of typical Italian cuisine. All you need are a few good ingredients to make an exquisite meal that will make you beg for more. Not kidding, I could eat this all day every day. It reminds me of my trip to Italy, and all the incredible pasta dishes I ate there. There is a reason Italians eat this every day! I recommend making pasta from scratch for simpler dishes like this, where the pasta is the star. It's has a much silkier, smoother, mouthfeel than dried pasta. Not ashamed to say I ate quite a bit of just the plain pasta before I even bathed it in the glorious garlic/oil sauce.

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

For pasta:

3 C flour (I use tipo 00) you can use regular all purpose flour as well

1/2 t salt

1 t olive oil

5 large eggs

For sauce:

1/3 C good olive oil

7-8 cloves minced or sliced garlic

1/3C finely chopped parsley

parmesan for topping if you desire

1/2 C reserved pasta water (water that the pasta has been cooked in)

How To:

1. Dump all 3 cups of flour on to a clean surface. Make a well in the center and crack eggs into the well.

2. Add olive oil and salt. With a fork, start scrambling the eggs and gradually add in flour making sure to keep a wall of flour at the base so the eggs don't run out everywhere. Rub a little bit of oil on your hands and start working the dough together with your hands. It will be very shaggy. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until you get a smooth, supple ball.

3. Wrap up dough ball tightly in plastic wrap and let sit for at least 30 minutes to rest.

4. Cut ball of dough into 4 equal pieces.

5. Lightly flour the surface you'll be rolling the dough out on, and flour your rolling pin. You will want to roll the balls out into a 1/4 inch thick oval. I recommend rolling and cutting one ball at a time, and keeping the other dough balls covered under a damp towel to prevent them from drying out.

6. Once you've rolled your dough out to 1/4 inch thickness, fold it into thirds and roll out into a rectangle shape in preparation for passing through the pasta roller. If you don't have a pasta roller/cutter, never fear! You just have to make sure to roll the pasta dough ball out until it is paper thin. Then you can fold it up (like a fruit roll up) and cut it lengthwise with a knife to create noodles.

7. Pass the pasta through the roller on it's widest setting. Fold into thirds, roll out again into a rectangle, and pass through the widest setting one more time. After that, just keep passing the dough through the next narrowest setting down to the second to last setting which should be 7 or 8. Make sure to dust both sides of pasta with flour before every pass through the roller to prevent tearing the dough.

8. You should end up with a thin, long pasta sheet. You can cut the sheet into thirds or fourths, depending on how long you want the pasta strands to be. Dust the pasta sheet with flour, and pass through the pasta cutter. You'll have perfect noodles!

9. Take each pile of cut pasta and separate the noodles and toss in flour to prevent sticking. Then you can place them in a pile on a baking sheet until ready to cook. Repeat the above steps with the rest of the pasta balls.

10. Boil water in a large stock pot making sure to salt the water liberally. You want the water to taste like the sea - I know it sounds a bit much, but trust me! I also pour a little bit of vegetable oil on top of the water before it boils. It helps keep the water from foaming and boiling over the pot. Also helps keep the pasta from sticking together. Once water is boiling, add your pasta. You only need to cook fresh pasta for about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, taste a strand and see if it's done to your liking!

11 While pasta is boiling, heat 1/3 C olive oil in a skillet or pan. Once oil is hot and shimmering, add garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, continuously stirring. You want the garlic to be slightly cooked, but not browned.

12. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 C of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta. Turn off heat to the pan/skillet, and add the pasta, pasta water, and parsley. Toss pasta to coat, and it's read to serve!

Mangia Bene!!!