A fair number of you contacted me after my last recipe, which was for a fall tartine that called for roasted beets, arugula pesto and pickled apples. “That looks delicious,” began one reader. “However, as good as that looks, it looks too complicated. Just too many steps for me.”
I hear you, and I agree. Sometimes you just want something simple that still hits the spot. With that in mind, I have to share this recipe for creamy, garlicky pasta that is as good as it sounds, and not a big lift in the kitchen. “Give the people what they want” has always been my partner’s mantra, and I am here to fulfill his astute advice.
The recipe comes from the new cookbook, “Korean American,” by one of the New York Times’ newish food writers, Eric Kim. If you’re looking to borrow it from the library, I promise to return it soon. When I borrow a cookbook from the library and have it out much longer than I should. I also tend to purchase the cookbook, which I am definitely going to do with this one. After reading just the first chapter I was already in the kitchen mixing and measuring.
This recipe is based on Kim’s bucatini with sesame oil and roasted sesame snacks. I made that. It was marvelous, but I wanted to see how everything would work without the Korean influence, hoping that this would be the key to getting my picky children to actually eat something I cooked. The results were spectacular, especially with the added roasted mushrooms, which are not deal breakers if mushrooms aren’t your thing. This is even easier than an alfredo sauce, and just plain simple when compared to starting with a roux.
To make things even easier, I use frozen garlic; I’m partial to the brand Dorot. I used an entire package of cheese tortellini for the photo, and that was 8 ounces. You cook the pasta for half the time it’s called for, scoop out a cup of the starchy water, and drain the pasta. Then, you basically cook the pasta the rest of the way with cream, some of the pasta water and garlic. It is phenomenal! You can’t go wrong with this easy recipe, and it definitely hits the spot.
Ingredients
Kosher Salt
6 ounces pasta
1 cup heavy cream
2 large garlic cloves, finely grated (or use frozen)
1 large portobello mushroom (optional)
Half a tablespoon of olive oil
Directions
If using the mushroom, preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 400F.
Toss the whole mushroom with the olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. Make sure the oil and salt is evenly distributed on the front and back of the mushroom. Place on a sheet and roast in the preheated oven for approximately 18 minutes. Chop the mushroom into bite-sized pieces once it’s cool.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the pasta and cook until pliable, about half the time that the package instructions tell you is al dente. (So if it says cook the pasta for 10 minutes, cook it for 5 minutes.) Reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta water, then drain the pasta and return to the pot.
Add the cream, garlic, and about half the reserved pasta water to the pasta (saving the rest of the water to thin out the sauce later if needed). Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sauce reduces by half and slicks the pasta with garlicky cream, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir in the roasted mushrooms if using, and divide the pasta between two plates and finish with freshly ground pepper.
Serves 2.
Enjoy!
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.