Apollo Olive Oil

Recipes

Spaghetti prepared with Garlic, Oil and Hot Pepper

Francesco Gazzana is the chef of the Italian Salute Restaurant in Yuba City. Along with his natural background in Northern Italian cuisine (he is from Milan), Francesco has lived in Napoli and also cherishes a special affection for the food of the Puglia region. It's a treat for us to have real Italian food 30 minutes from our press! He has often surprised us with recipes he has developed using our oil, such as a memorable carrot cake. This recipe is a true classic of the Southern Italian cuisine.

This is a very simple recipe to follow; but requires care and attentiveness when selecting the ingredients.

We begin with the choice of pasta (spaghetti). Excluding those home-made products offered by Gragnano, my favorites would be De Cecco, Voiello, or even Barilla.

The extra-virgin olive oil should not be too strong. Apollo Olive Oil's Mistral is a perfect choice.

The garlic must be aged to the correct taste; it should not be over-aged. You should use fresh and well-flavored Italian (prezzemolo). You can also used hot pepper (preferably dried).

The portion of spaghetti per person should be 3.5 oz. While the spaghetti is cooking in a large quantity of well-salted water (almost like ocean water), slightly fry a whole piece of peeled garlic in extra-virgin olive oil until it is slightly gold. Each portion should contain two little sections of garlic within a ½ cup of oil; you can season this liquid (sauce) with hot pepper to taste.

Lift the frying pan from the flame and at the point that the spaghetti is slightly sticky (not too well-cooked) pour it from the water into frying pan and then maneuver the pan such that the spaghetti jumps (in another words you are mixing it very well); do so over a high flame, and at the same time be sure the water continues to boil.

While mixing the spaghetti, continuously add a small amount of boiling water until the spaghetti is ready. Be sure that it does not become too dry. This process should take 3-5 minutes in order that the spaghetti will absorb the flavor of the garlic and oil.

Before serving, leave the spaghetti for a minute in the pan having sprinkled it with a bit of (prezzemolo tritato). The sauce will turn into an aromatic liquid in the pan. You should not find any pronounced spots of oil.

Serve the spaghetti on heated plates; it should still be steaming.