SPAGHETTI AGLIO, OLIO E PEPPERONCINO!!
Do you ever have a week where you just don't feel like cooking? Every now and again I just get so lazy and just couldn't be bothered, last week was such a week. The worst part of it was I had menu planned so I'm ashamed to say a lovely big juicy monk fish went into the bin and it wasn't cheap - oh the guilt:( It was just the way the week went, staff were out sick so one of us had to be in La Cucina and we actually went out to eat this week. We off loaded the princess to her Nonna on Tuesday night and went for dinner in the new Hilton, we were going to go to the Market Square restaurant which is probably our favourite in Limerick but we said we would try the Hilton for a change. What did we think??? We should have went to the Market Square;)
I mentioned the MIL/Nonna has returned so back to our regular visit to the family restaurant "La Piccola Italia" for our Friday dinner, cod done in the oven with tomatoes, potatoes and olives - delicious. Bruno's brother Stefano is just back from Pantelleria so my new love is Passito which is a speciality of this region, a sweet dessert wine to have after dinner, there is a bottle of the home-made version chilling in my fridge as we speak . It is a tiny island off the coast of Sicily, it is so small there is limited Internet connection so everyone has to use the local Internet cafe. Armani (the god himself) was actually there using the Internet amoung the commoners when Stefano was in the cafe!
Speaking of Italian wines, I'm in the process of ordering a mixed case of Italian wine from Julian over at Bubblebrothers, fingers crossed my favourite Primitivo will be included, I like Brunello too Julian;), we actually have a bottle which we are keeping for a special occasion which is never going to come, I keep asking Bru to open it but he won't let me .I will let you know how I get on, I'm not the best at describing wine so Julian you might have to give me a little help:) He's also kindly offered his professional advice and help on matching any of his wines with your favourite Italian dishes. I know I need help so if there are any questions you have in relation to matching wines just leave them in the comments section or send me an email.
I actually posted this recipe back in March but this was when I was a blogging newbie and didn't even take photos so I have superstyled it and stuck in a few pics:)This pasta dish is so handy and easy to make when you don't have much time and you have nothing in the fridge, it's actually one of our favourite pasta dishes. The Italians tend to eat this after a night out, they all go back to some body's house and cook up a big pot of pasta, we just go to Abbrakebabra and have a kebab and garlic chips. Then we wonder where those extra lbs come from???
All you need is:
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olive oil 5-6 good glugs
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1 garlic clove sliced
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1 fresh chilli seeded and chopped
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1 fresh flat leaf parsley sprig chopped (optional)
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3/4 packet spaghetti De Cecco or Barilla
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salt
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parmesan cheese
How to make it:
- bring a pot of salted water to the boil
- cover the base of a small pot or deep frying pan with your oil and heat
- add the garlic and chilli and cook until the garlic is starting to colour, if you don't like to eat garlic but like the flavour you could just cook the garlic clove until brown and then remove and cook chilli.
- remove from the heat and add the parsley
- cook the spaghetti until al dente and drain
- mix the spaghetti with the chilli and garlicmoil and serve with loads of grated parmesan on top!
BUON APPETTITO!!
p.s. I haven't submitted an entry to Presto Pasta Night in a while and I missed the big 6 month celebration(shame on me as it has been such a good event), Ruth will be wondering what's happened to me, deepest apologies Ruth. Not much pasta in the Italian foodie house recently so I'm submitting this recipe for this week's event!!
Welcome to The Foodie Blogroll! Nice to have more Italian foodies on the list! (Comment this)
Maryann - ha ha ha! That is so cute, I had a few issues with it at the start, I had to souble check it in one of my cookbooks to make sure I got it right! I love this pasta dish, it's up there in my top 5!!
Jenn - Thanks and welcome. The foodie blogroll is a great idea, well done you:) (Comment this)
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All italians seem to adore Pantelleria....I sure hope to check it out myself one day and dine on fresh ricci di mare with spaghetti. Heaven on earth!
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Denise (Comment this)
Francesca- Welcome, you will love Dublin. All our Italian cousins do!! There are so many Italians living there, make sure you check out the Italian quarter in Ormand Quay and the Guiness factory of course!!
Rowena - That sounds like an amazing combination, YUM, I'm drooling here at the thought! I'm dying to go, our friends have a house there so we have no excuse. Who knows we might get to rub shoulders with Armani:)
Denise - Thanks and welcome. It's amazing how popular this dish is with so few ingredients but that's what probably makes it. We have it once a week or every 2 weeks and never tire of it:) (Comment this)