Aglio Olio

Aglio Olio with seafood

Pasta...mmm either you love it or hate it.
To some pasta is only spaghetti bolognaise, but truthfully there is huge variety of it and sadly
not all are available here in our currently windy and sunny Malaysia.
Oh the winds, let me take a break from talking about pasta.
I lobe it! I really do. Clothes dry like super, super fast. I love the feeling of it gushing about, blowing already messy hair all over the place LOL Curtains flying, doors slamming - involuntarily of course!
But on the down side, dry leaves and rubbish like snack or sweet wrappers fly into the house from the road side, not to mention the sand and small pebbles.
More house work, more cleaning to be done *sigh* Just one of those things that has to be done.

Let's focus on more happier and yummier things like this Aglio Olio with seafood.

Aglio Olio means, garlic and olive oil, and in the true sense that is what it is, warm pasta tossed with garlic fried in olive oil, just sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley and eat.

But pasta lovers will beg to differ and say that there are a several versions and one of the popular one is with sea food. You can also substitute it with chicken, I've even seen on restaurant menus, fillets of fish!
All in all it is up to your taste buds and preference.
Here I used prawns and squids, but clams can also be added.

I just wanted to share with you my version of Aglio Olio with Seafood - spicy version!

Aglio Olio with Seafood.

Ingredients
1 packet of spaghetti (500g)
Boil for about 8-10 min, toss and set aside.
The water must be boiling before you put in the pasta.
Ensure there is enough water or the pasta would stick to each other.
The pasta doesn't needs to be cooked long because it is going to be cooked again later.
So, al dente is okay.

olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic
5-10 cili api /bird's eye chili (add or lessen depending on your tolerance for chili)
250g fresh prawns
250g fresh squid
1/2 tsp of dried mixed herbs (optional)
freshly chopped parsley
1 Tbsp dried chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste.

Method
In a food processor minced the chili and garlic or just smash them in a pestle and mortar.
In a wok pour in about 5Tbsp of Olive Oil and over med heat fry the garlic and chili until fragrant.
Careful, the garlic burns easily.
Add in the seafood or chicken, stir fry until cook. The prawns turn pink, the squid and chicken white.
Season to taste before taking them out and set aside.

This is to prevent the seafood from over cooking and becoming tough.

Add in the spaghetti and mix to combine with the chili and garlic mixture.
At this point, you can add salt and pepper.
Stir gently as not to break the pasta, add the mixed herbs if using and dried chili flakes.
Add the cooked seafood and cook the pasta until warm through.
It depends if the pasta is a bit dry add some water.

Lastly, drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle the parsley over the pasta before plating up!

Best eaten warm but cold is good too. Just pop into the mircowave for a few minutes to warm it up for later!