Pasta Aglio Olio

I love to cook and these days, it seemed that Mama is letting me loose in her beloved kitchen. So, I decide on our daily menu. YES, full authority in the kitchen, baby! Today, by request, I made aglio olio. My younger sister, Gegel is CRAVING for it and this is probably the third time I made this in less than a few weeks.

And yes, I used my precious DSLR to take these photos. I'm a total camera-ignoramus, but they turned up well enough.

That said, I'm sharing my aglio olio recipe. Bear in mind, aglio olio belongs to the Italians and this may not be the original recipe as I've NEVER even set my foot in Italy. I've searched the definition of aglio olio and found out that it is basically garlic and oil. So, with these 2 ingredients in mind, you can go free with anything else that suits your palate (or in my case, whatever I have in my pantry).

Pasta Aglio Olio

Serving: 4-5 persons

Ingredients

• Pasta 250g (any sort, my favourite is always spaghetti but I've used linguine and other sorts before)
• Olive oil (olive oil is super duper delicious and healthy, but just in case you don't have it, just substitute with butter, margarine or any vegetable oil. That said, the taste will change as some oils have their own distinctive taste and some are quite neutral)
• Garlic (LOTS of it, I've been known to use more than 20 cloves for 250g pasta, adjust to your liking)
• Vegetables (my favourites are bell peppers, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower and shiitake mushroom. Okay mushroom is not a vegetable but who cares)
• Protein of your choice (my most favourites are prawn and calamari, but I've used chicken, beef and beef pepperoni before)
• Herbs (I use mixed herbs)
• Chilli flakes/dried chillies
• Cheese (parmesan is my poison of choice)
• Salt 
• Water

Cooking Method

1. Boil your pasta. I put the pasta in after the water in boiling. Stir the pasta every now and then to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Add a tablespoon of salt into the boiling water.
2. Once pasta is al dante (it is slightly firm but not mushy soft, or the colour of your pasta become a bit lighter), drain the water and immediately run tap water along the pasta to stop the cooking process. Add a pinch of salt to your pasta. Your pasta should be a bit firm and taste nice.
3. Cut all your vegetable and protein into bite sized pieces.
4. In low heat, add oil, chili flakes/diced-up dried chillies and garlic.
5. Once the oil turn red and the garlic turns translucent (and a heavenly aroma is produced), add the meat (or you can cook your meat separately as I've done sometimes) and vegetables.
6. Add mixed herbs and salt. At this point the vegetables and meat will smell beautiful (and taste beautiful too!).
7. Finally add your pasta! Toss it around for a few minutes and we are done!
8. Serve with cheese shavings.