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When I was a college student living on my own years ago, one of my go-to quick dishes was spaghetti noodles stirred in with a little olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and rosemary.
It’s still a favorite comforting side dish, though I’ve fancied it up a notch with the use of angel hair pasta (so quick!), more herbs than just rosemary, sliced garlic, some red pepper flakes, and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
In this recipe we are using rosemary, oregano, and thyme, sturdy herbs that grow year round outside my kitchen window. You could easily use other herbs. If you use more delicate herbs like tarragon or basil, I would recommend not heating them in the oil, but tossing them in at the end with the Parmesan cheese.
Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Herbs, and Parmesan Recipe
This recipe can easily be doubled. If you use delicate herbs such as basil or tarragon, toss them in at the end with the Parmesan.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta
- Salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1/8 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Method
1 Prepare boiling water for pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (1 tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water).
2 Cook garlic and herbs: While the water is heating in step 1, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the sliced garlic, chili pepper flakes, finely chopped herbs, and chopped parsley to the oil. Cook for one minute or until the parsley has wilted and the garlic is emitting a strong fragrance. Remove from heat.
3 Cook the pasta: The angel hair past will cook in about 2 minutes once it starts, so get everything ready. Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta. Cook at a rolling boil until al dente. Remove 1/2 a cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta and rinse briefly with cold water, just enough to stop the cooking, but not so much as to make the pasta cold. The pasta should still be quite warm.
4 Combine pasta and herbs: Place pasta in a large bowl. Pour herbed garlic sauce over the pasta and gently toss to combine. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper over the pasta and gently toss to combine. If the pasta is a little sticky, add back a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen.
Serve immediately as a side dish. Reheats well if you make ahead.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic, Herbs, and Parmesan
My pasta got a little sticky after putting some sauce n cheese.. Is it the sauce?
xxxxxyyyyy
Hi Mubashira, that can happen. The easiest way to prevent that is to reserve some of the pasta cooking water and then just add a little back in to the pasta at the very end to loosen it up. Thank you for pointing this out, I’ve updated the recipe to reflect this tip!
Thank you for the tip. I’ll follow it the next time i try it.
Not bad. Added sour cream and nutritional yeast and it came out more creamy :)
Delicious! This recipe is a keeper. I read in a comment, someone used butter instead of olive oil. I used 1/2 the amount of suggested olive oil and added two tbsp of butter (do you think 2 tbsp of butter is a bit much?)
xxxxxyyyyy
Nope, Danisha! I don’t! Sounds good to me!
Thanks!
How would this do if made ahead and kept warm in a crockpot?
Hi, Rachel! I don’t recommend making this ahead and keeping it warm in a crockpot. The noodles would dry out.
This looks perfect for an every day speed meal! Yummy. I’d add a fat chunk of butter to make it absolutely perfect. :))