Spaghetti with a Zing

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

Now, this dish was inspired by Lidia as I saw in her television show in the Basilicata episode of Lidia's Italy. With no recipe available online but with the basics laid out on her show, I figured I'd give it a try and give it my usual twist. I'm using the term "zing", not just as a catchy descriptive name for the dish. It really is zingy in the sense that the sauce is prepared with red chili powder. It is a very simple dish and dressed simply with cheese and parsley. Just a word of caution, use chili powder made from dried chili peppers and not the chili powder blend used to make chili con karne which contains other additional spices. As Lidia said in her show after tasting the dish, "Fire!" I did wuss out and used a mild variety of red chili powder! 

Spaghetti with a Zing

1 lb spaghetti
1/4 cup garlic, sliced
1 1/2 tsp California red chili powder
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Cook the spaghetti noodles as per packet instructions. 

2. Once the pasta is in the pot, heat the olive oil in a deep saute pan over 
    medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until slightly browned. 
   
3. Lower the heat and add the red chili powder and cook for one minute. 

4. Add two cups of pasta water to the pepper mix and increase the heat to 
    medium. Transfer the noodles into the saute pan and finish cooking until 
    the noodles are al dente and the sauce has thickened. Add more water 
    if necessary.
     
5. Off the heat, add the chopped parsley and the cheese and serve.