Italian Style Spaghetti (spaghetti With Garlic and Oil)

Being a college student, I look for recipes that is easy to make, as well as affordable and healthy. Also, being a vegetarian, its very difficult to find healthy/ tasty food around on budget. Nothing beats my favorite spaghetti with garlic and oil. Its also a great vegetarian dish, and without the cheese, it becomes a vegan dish. This spaghetti is also a hit at parties and event. And the best part, it takes less than 15 minutes to make.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Serving size: 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb dry spaghetti
• 1/2 head garlic (6-7 cloves)
• 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
• 1 tsp red crushed pepper
• 1/2 lime/lemon
• Cilantro bunch
• Kraft Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Note: Some of the above ingredients can be substituted for its alternatives. Example: Parsley instead of cilantro, fresh Parmesan cheese instead of boxed cheese. You can also use Linguine or Fettuccine style pasta, and you can also double the amount of garlic (or lower).

While cooking pasta, always follow the steps on the packaging. I prefer Barilla brand spaghetti no. 5 (The numbers are on the side of the box).

• Bring 6.5 cups of water to boil (50 fluid ounce / 1.5 liters)
• Add liberal amount of salt and a little bit of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking
• Once the water starts boiling, add the pasta and stir every 2-3 minutes
• Cook the pasta till AL DENTE, in my case it was 10 minutes.

While the pasta boils prep the other ingredients.

Note: Al Dente means preparing the pasta where its cooked to be slightly firm on the inside.

While the pasta boils, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

• Finely slice the garlic and chop the cilantro.
• Chop the cilantro as small as possible
• On a separate pan, set the olive oil to heat at medium flame.

• In a separate pan, heat the olive oil at medium flame for 2-3 minutes
• Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes
• Finally add the red crushed pepper and a pinch of salt, stir well
• Turn of the pan heat as we don't want the garlic to burn

Tip: Add the garlic to medium hot oil, too hot and the garlic will burn. Sliced garlic burns easily.

Just 30 second shy of my 10 minute timer, I like to take a single strand of spaghetti to taste and ensure its close to done.

Strain the pasta. And the most important part, save the pasta water in a bowl, we will need this later.

The spaghetti is almost done, all that remains is the mixing part.

• Add the pasta back to pot
• Add the cilantro, garlic oil, little bit of pepper, lime juice and 1/4 cup pasta water which we saved.
• mix everything together and let it sit for 2-3 minutes
• Add the Parmesan cheese and mix again.
• The spaghetti is ready!!!

Pro tip: add the cheese after the pasta is cooled down a little, this prevents the cheese from sticking or melting. Also, add some more cheese, salt and pepper as garnish for presentation.