This is absolutely not a pasta you should make before a date. Or probably within several days of one if we’re being honest.
This is for a night on the couch with your favourite movie or tv show. The dish is like a hug after a long day or a snuggle and blanket when you’re under the weather. But kind of like if the hug or snuggle is a little bit bad for you. It might sound terrifying to use a whole head of garlic, but the key is in slow roasting it. A more patient cook may refer to this as confit. However, I think my oven was about double the temperature of what any French chef would recommend for such a task. But a moderately slow roast in excessive amounts of olive oil will give you beautiful caramelised onions and enough garlicky oil to add to veggies and mashed potato for the rest of the week. You need very few ingredients and like I said, no guests.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- A whole head of garlic (about 10–12 cloves)
- 80ml of olive oil
- 100ml of cream of your choice
- 25–50g of parmigiano reggiano
- 250g of dried spaghetti
- A handful of parsley
Method
- In a small oven-safe dish with a lid, place your peeled garlic cloves and drown them in olive oil (there shouldn’t be any of the cloves poking out).
- Roast in the oven at around 140-160°C or until the garlic is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and smash the cloves with a fork until they form a thick paste.
- In a pan, use the garlicky olive oil on a low heat, then add the garlic back in to warm slightly (this won’t take long as it’s already cooked).
- Meanwhile, start cooking your pasta in a pot of boiling water and salt.
- In the pan, still on a low heat, add your cream, mixing to combine.
- After around five minutes, or the time it takes the pasta to cook, add the parmigiano reggiano, to taste. The sauce should start to thicken. Add salt and pepper as needed.
- Once the pasta is al dente or a minute or two off completely cooked, add it into your sauce, with a little extra pasta water.
- Stir vigorously with tongs to coat the spaghetti in the sauce.
- Finish by mixing in finely chopped parsley and an optional squeeze of lemon juice.
