15 minute pasta

We are all seduced by those recipes that tell you that dinner can be on the table in 20 - 30 - 40 minutes but when we try to replicate that timetable, it simply does not work. 

But this one does. In the time it takes to put a pan of water on the heat, bring it to a boil and salt it, add the pasta, your other stuff is ready. Seriously.  The following is a recipe for one person but obviously easy to double or triple or whatever.

Put that pan of water on.  I start with hot water so it boils even quicker. Salt that water.

Chop up a big clove of garlic or two medium ones. Or more if you have more people. It doesn't need to be micro. Just sort of finely chopped.  If you have some anchovies languishing in a jar in your fridge, this is the time to make them serve you well. If you have any greens in your fridge, same thing. (I actually just used the tops of radishes I grew in my small garden, they were perf. But spinach, arugula, parsley, even cilantro would be fine. No greens is fine as well.)

As you are waiting for the pasta water to boil, put a couple of glugs of olive oil into a 6 - 8 inch frying pan. Larger if you are cooking for more than one. Heat it. When warm add the anchovies if you are using them. Let them sweat and fall apart. Add the chopped garlic. Let it slowly get hot. You don't want the garlic to brown, you want it to cook slowly and get soft and sort of sweet. Now your water should be boiling so add pasta and stir it up and let it cook. To the oil and garlic add a large pinch of red pepper flakes, stir. Let that cook. Add a pinch of salt.  That's about it. Of course, you can add some finely chopped onion if you want (I never do.)

Wait for the pasta to be done. Drain it and add it to the frying pan. If you are using greens add them. Toss with tongs. The heat should be pretty low to medium so that your pasta might sizzle a little going into that pan. Add some ground pepper. Have a small taste. Add salt if needed. Finely grate in some parmesan. Toss around a bit. At this point you are done unless you want to add other stuff like more greens or a diced tomato or some diced ham or a splash of cream or all of the above. Keep the heat low, just to heat anything you add but you don't really need to add anything, it is fine with just garlic and red pepper flakes. Tip it all into a shallow bowl that you have heated up with either hot water or some other way (oven, microwave, blah, blah) and then grate some more cheese on top and some more ground pepper and then you are done.

Eat with a glass of red wine or whiskey (not red) and enjoy. Seriously, from start to finish, 15 minutes. Time it. I did.