Stocked up on pasta for the quarantine? Why settle for boring red sauce and ‘spag.’ This traditional dish, Italy’s favorite, will make your (by now… somewhat annoying) immediate family very happy. Bon Journo mi amigo!
Yes… we’re all dealing with home cooking that at times is wonderful… but day after day? Let’s be honest, it gets old.
It gets old because if like you’re like 99% of the population, you’re sustenance today comes from basic recipes. Or, if a brave soul ventures out for specific ingredients, you or your spouse is experimenting to keep people fed, civil, and entertained with new recipes.
Sometimes, things run amuck. This happened to me when I undercooked a fresh chicken earlier this week. Dark meat should not be pink and I set a portion of the bird free again, albeit his travels were constrained to a hefty bag doomed for the trash.
BASTA!
Enough I say! Here’s a simple dish that is so satisfying, and so easy to make, a comatose relative prescribed with valium could make it and position him/herself as the hero in the family.
Pasta, and oil + garlic. Made properly, it will make everyone happy. Fresh from Foodwishes.com, and Chef John, this recipe features the secret process that turns garlic into gold.
First, you need quality olive oil. Forget that forgery called Bertolli, that’s for hacks. Besides that, a head of garlic, fresh parsley, some choice cheese, and a pound of pasta is all you need.
And don’t deny the fact you’re stocked up on pasta… put it to good use!
The key is cooking sliced garlic properly – cooked on medium at most, tenderized to a lovely brown color, and you have to stop cooking it right on time (see how via the recipe). It takes a watchful eye; walk away and you will overcook it. Let it linger too long while your pasta is boiling, and you’ll serve a dish where the main element is overcooked and mushy. Cooking pasta al dente is a must.
And fresh parmigiana romano, grated and tossed in when it is all done? Que bella, my friends.
My family was floored by this simple dish. And true Italian dishes are cooked with simple, fresh, and wholesome ingredients. That’s the beauty of Italian cooking. And if you are Italian, and do not know this dish, oh how your mind will be blown! Ba Bam!
Give it a try and let us know at The Father Apprentice how it went on your end. I guarantee you and your bat-shit-crazy/cabin-fevered family will enjoy this meal.
Dig in!
If you like this dish, serve up one of these as well:
The Rookie Father 
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