“as is” or add-in

Spaghetti, Angel Hair, or Linguini
Fresh garlic cloves or Trader Joe’s frozen garlic cubes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red pepper flakes

If you always have these four items in your pantry – you always have dinner ready in less than 10 minutes!  Seriously, you can use only those four ingredients for a meal or add in whatever you have on hand.

Some of the things I’ve added to this standby dish?

For protein; cooked shrimp, chicken, bacon, scallops, or slivers of leftover pork or beef.

Generally, I keep it vegetarian, in which case, anything I have in my fridge goes in; green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, leftover caramelized onions, herbs, snow peas, sugar snap peas, leftover cooked squash, sliced summer squash, arugula, or spinach.

Honestly, the list is endless. For dinner last night, I only added sliced Belgium endive and cherry tomato halves.

This is the go-to meal when the goal is to get dinner onto the table before anyone has a chance to whine, “When are we eating, I’m starving!”

Spaghetti con Peperoncino

8 ounces dry spaghetti, angel hair, or linguini
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1  1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of salted water according to package directions, until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Once hot, turn off the heat, leaving the pan on the burner, and add the olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, plus any add-ins of your choice. You are only very lightly heating this mixture, do not turn the heat back on.

Strain spaghetti and then drop the pasta into the sauté pan with the olive oil mixture, toss well to combine.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4