Saturday, August 21, 2010

If you like Spicy and Peppery - this pasta's for YOU!

I'm still attempting to do minimal grocery shopping - with relative success. Yesterday searching my kitchen for something to eat I found a half a box of linguine, half a bag of arugula, some packets of roasted red pepper flakes from pizza delivery, garlic and butter. So, I said to myself, "Pasta it is!"

Spicy and Peppery Pasta

Cook the pasta - saving about 1/2 to 1 cup of the pasta water.

In a good size pan [you're going to be throwing the pasta into this later] melt 2-4 tablespoons of butter and throw in about a 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Chop up the garlic and add to pan along with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes [you might want to use much less if you're sensitive to spicy!].

Let the garlic get fragrant.

Throw your pasta into the pan and salt and pepper to your preference. Fry it for a few minutes then add some or all of the pasta water. Cook for another 3 minutes or so. Then turn off the heat and add the arugula mixing around until it's just wilted.

Pat yourself on the back for making a fabulous pasta dish in about 20 minutes with minimal ingredients.

Bust open some wine [perhaps a Chilean Carmenere] and enjoy.

End Note: This was enough for 2 maybe 3 people. But if you serve it with a big, beautiful salad I bet you can stretch it to 4 servings.