trenette al basilico with garlic, olive oil and oregano dressing

what with two holidays and an intense period of work I haven’t actually been home for over a month and I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly excited I am to finally be back in the kitchen… I feel like a little boy in a toy shop, not quite sure where to look or which shiny object to grab first.  All I know is that i am here to stay and even though it may be for just 48 hours I am not leaving this kitchen, not even to sleep…

as you know, I have literally just stepped of a plane for an Italian holiday with the family to celebrate mum’s 70th birthday.  It was quite a tempestuous time.  Let’s leave it at that shall we and move on to all the glorious food… The Viking and I have always had a big love for pasta, it’s versatile, easy to cook and let’s face it, for a vegetarian the options are seemingly endless and the fact that it’s pretty much available in one form or the other all across the globe makes it the perfect ‘go-to’ meal if you’re a little worried about the local cuisine.  Of course the local the cuisine in Italy is exactly what this is and being such, it comes in a billion different varieties with a billion different sauce but what I think the Italians do best (and which we over here in the rest of Europe get so wrong) is the simple sauce.  So often we go overboard on the sauce for pasta, over-compensating for the plain-ness of it all and I think this lack of finesse and understanding of pasta itself can be our downfall.

this is not in any way an authentic Italian pasta dressing but it’s my take on a dish I ate whilst in Santa Maria di Castellabate and I think it has a simplicity that doesn’t need to shout from the rooftops to be deliciously tasty.  The dressing also allows the brilliance of the basil infused pasta to really shine through.  This trenette al basilico is made by a much-loved and well established company called Paisanella and they are famous for all the wonderful and colourful pasta they create in the Campania region of Southern Italy… I implore you try and get a packet on-line if you can, it’s well worth it.

3 cloves of garlic – crushed
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
the leaves of 2 stalks of oregano
grated parmesan

place the oil, garlic and oregano into a small pan and gently heat through for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the garlic turns golden – watch it closely as you don’t want it to burn.  Set aside until needed.

boil your pasta until ready – it should have a slight bite to it, then drain well but set aside a cup of the pasta water

gently re-heat the oil if you need to and pour it into the the pan with the pasta, the cup of pasta water and at least 2 good handfuls of parmesan and stir it all together before sprinkling with oregano flowers and serving

i’m entering this pasta recipe into this months Cooking With Herbs bloggers challenge, hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage.  The theme this month is basil.

eat and of course, enjoy!