Special Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Patty is here to spend Christmas with me (yayyy) and this means lots of eating and shopping and sister bonding and bikram yoga-ing. Patty is my little sister (except she’s not so little anymore so maybe I should start saying “youngest sister” hehe) and this will be our very first Christmas with just the two of us. Of course I wish we could be home in Manila with my parents and our other sister Monic, but I’m not in a complaining mood today so instead I’m going to focus on the positives: I get to spend the holidays with my boyfriend and my sister! I’m completely done with Christmas shopping (weeks ago actually) and the presents are all wrapped up and ready to go! I’ve been running and yoga-ing more often! I’ve been eating lots of chocolates (hah)! And today, my very glam bib necklace from Adia Kibur came in the mail (ordered from Ruelala)! I can’t stop using exclamation points!

This is what the holidays do to me: I am so overflowing with love and happiness that I become ridiculously giddy. And a bit all over the place because I almost forgot that the title of this blog post is Special Spaghetti Aglio Olio!

*collects myself, deep breath*

Okay so back to my sister Patty, who arrived on Monday night, and who immediately requested that we go to Trader Joe’s on Tuesday night (it runs in the family), and who was recipient of my very special pasta dish (last night was only the second time I made the dish, the first was last month for my mom). This recipe is actually based on a simple Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe (my favorite is Rachel Ray’s recipe) – a classic Italian pasta dish made with garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Some versions (like RR’s) have anchovy fillets (that you “melt” in the olive oil, yum) and I’ve made versions with breadcrumbs and parsley (adds texture and color), too. My latest (special) version had Gourmet Tuyo from the Philippines. Tuyo is dried herring, and I used to HATE it with a passion because of the strong salty smell, but I realized that the bottled ones in olive oil and spices actually smell pretty good and more importantly, taste really good. Especially with pasta.

So with no further babbling, I present my recipe for Bianca’s Special Spaghetti Aglio Olio!

Here are the ingredients:gourmet tuyo

1/2 whole wheat spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

4-6 garlic cloves (pressed) or 2 tablespoons minced garlic

8-10 tuyo fillets – or use 1 container Italian anchovies in olive oil and red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon olive oil from tuyo bottle – or just use regular olive oil plus more red pepper flakes

coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

shaved parmiggiano regianno cheese

Very simple directions:

– Cook the pasta according to package directions

– Place a large skillet on medium-high, and add the olive oil, butter, garlic, and tuyo (or anchovy) fillets

– Break up the fillets with a wooden spoon (you can also chop them up before adding them to the pan but I’m really lazy and it feels more rustic this way) and continue cooking until they get all flaky and melty

– Add the spaghetti, season with S&P, toss everything together while pretending to be on a Food Network show, top with lots of shaved cheese, then serve to little sister or mom or boyfriend or any special person in your life.

Enjoy!

   

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