Revenge of the Pasta…

Yep, another week has passed us by and it was time, once again, for me to cook. (Jenn’s out of town, so she’ll be chiming in with my recipe after she gets back.) This week, it was… what was the name?… oh, right, Pasta Weirda… or something.

Seriously, this was one strange pasta dish. But, I made it anyway, in the interests of discovery and science… and because Vicky told me it was my turn to cook.

Here’s the recipe:

MAMACELLO PASTA

1 lb Spaghetti or Linguini3
T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 pinches Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 C Dry white wine
2 Lemons zest
1 Lemon juiced
1/2 C Heavy Cream
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 C Fresh Basil, Shredded
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese for topping pasta… or whatever it is you use

Now, these were some weird ingredients. I mean, lemon juice and shredded basil??? That’s not the kind of food they make where I come from. And, it got worse. I started reading the directions (original copies can be seen on Jenn’s site) and it made no sense. Add the garlic to the oil and then set it aside for FIVE MINUTES? It was looking more like a joke than a recipe! So, I did what any red-blooded, American male would do… I bitched about it until Vicky called Jenn.

Between the two of us, we agreed it didn’t make much sense. After all, how long did you leave the garlic in the oil before removing it? Did you want to brown it? And why five minutes? Jenn suggested that the intent was to infuse the oil with garlic and red pepper flavor. I could get behind that. Okay!

So, here are your revised directions.

I put a HUGE HEAP of finely chopped garlic in the olive oil (we’re talking 6-8 cloves!), along with twice the red pepper flakes. That soaked up the oil so I poured in even mor e oil! You can do that.

As that cooked over medium-low heat, with my sexy assistant stirring (that would be Vicky), I started the pasta. And I went with angel hair pasta because… well, we have a ton.

After the garlic and pepper infused the oil, I poured in easily ½ cup of dry, white wine. (We went with a Sauvignon Blanc… and I got saucy on the rest of the bottle!) Vicky had been kind enough to zest the lemons for me and we through that in, too.

We probably didn’t let it boil for the whole three minutes before throwing in the cream, lemon juice, salt, and – yes – a whole ladle of pasta water. It sounds pretty gross but, there you have it – and we did it!

Then, I drained the pasta. After a few minutes letting the concoction reduce a bit, I threw in the basil, parsley, and some cheese. Then, we let that wilt a little.

Finally, I threw all the pasta in the pan and let that absorb, soak up, and generally love on all the sauce.

And, we ate.

Final verdict: Good. Very light and lemony. It would pair beautifully with some lightly grilled chicken or the rest of a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. (Hic!)