Aglio Olio Spaghetti

Aglio - garlic
Olio - (olive) oil

So, that's spaghetti with garlic fried off in olive oil, right? Is that not just about the easiest meal on the planet to prepare? Sure is! Anyone, even the pet dog, could make this one.

I guess originally this was a real poor working man's meal. I bet, though, if you were to order it in a restaurant in Venice or Rome, you'd need to take out a second mortgage even though it should cost ....

Per person: 1.5 zl (30 UK pence, 50 US cents)
Serves: 2

What you need:

- 100-150g of spaghetti
- a good splash of olive oil
- a crushed and coarsely chopped clove of garlic
- a good handful of basil leaves roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to season
- a small dried red chilli (optional)
- grated parmesan to serve (optional)

Hey ho! Let's go!

1. Get the spaghetti in some boiling water and drain when al-dente. If you're doing this in advance, pour cold water over the spaghetti to stop it cooking further.

2. Prep the garlic and basil.

2. Gently heat up the olive oil in a pan. Infuse the chilli in the hot oil (if you want a bit of background heat to the dish)

4. Garlic in. Lightly fry till turning golden (around 1 minute on low heat)

5. Basil in. Immediately followed by the spaghetti. Keep it in just long enough to cover the spaghetti with the oil mixture and heat through.

6. Serve with grated parmesan

There you go! A simple and very quick and easy dish.

Cost:

- Spaghetti: 1.5 zl
- The rest: 1.5 zl

Total: 3 zl
Serves: 2
Per person: 1.5 zl