Mushroom Aglio Olio

Aglio Olio.

It sounds so fancy and impressive, is delicious, and the best of all, it's extremely easy and fast to make.

So, if you're thinking of whipping up a quick dinner for your friends or your family, or your boyfriend's family (haha!), why don't you try this easy recipe?

There are so many kinds of aglio olio you can make. The name literally means 'garlic and oil' in Italian. So to keep it authentic, I guess you just need to flavour your olive oil with garlic by some light stir-frying in the pan for a few minutes before adding whatever you want to your pasta dish. ^^

The family was really hungry when I got home from work. It was a lazy rainy evening. My mum was really tired and had no inspiration to cook that night. My brother was hungry but did not feel like eating out. I was actually feeling a little lazy, but I had this urge to cook for my family. It was getting really late though, so I wanted to make something quick yet something different and special for a change. So, mushroom aglio olio it was~! ^^ Here are the ingredients!

Ingredients (Makes 3~4 servings):

- 232g elbow macaroni
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 100g mushrooms, washed and sliced (I used shiitake because those were the only shrooms I could find in my fridge. Feel free to use any other mushrooms you like. ^^)
- 3 dried chillies, milled coarsely, or 1tbsp of chilli flakes (optional)
- 40g fresh parsley, milled coarsely, or 1 tbsp of parsley flakes (optional)
- sea salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- juice of 1/2 a lemon (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to instructions on package. Drain and set aside pasta in a large pot/bowl. Reserve a small cup of pasta water.

2. In a medium-sized saucepan over a medium flame, heat olive oil. Add garlic and chilli flakes. Saute for about 3 minutes until garlic turns a light golden brown. Add mushrooms. Saute for about 6~8minutes.

3. When there is a lovely fragrance, turn off the stove. Be careful not to burn your garlic~

4. Pour all ingredients in the pan to the pot/bowl of pasta. Toss pasta in this oily mixture. Add parsley flakes. Toss some more. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss some more. Drizzle more olive oil if you find your pasta too dry.

5. Garnish with a fresh stalk of parsley. Beautiful! You may drizzle some lemon juice over your pasta too just to give it an extra oomph. :)

Easy isn't it? My family polished everything off and raved about it. Totally worth it~! ^^

Enjoy~!!