Cheese and Herb pasta

Here is my next recipe. It's a creation I made that was influenced by Pasta-roni, and a basil chicken recipe I found on the internet. At its heart, it's macaroni and cheese. But it's kicked up about 20 notches from KD's* version. It goes GREAT with broiled steak, fried or grilled chicken, salmon, or crab legs. You can adjust the garlic to be as much or as little as you like-- experiment with a couple different versions to suit your taste. This is also the recipe that got my dear wife to start liking garlic more in my cooking. If you have someone who doesn't like garlic much, start out with just a little, and add more and more until it's the way you like it. They'll catch on at some point. :)

Here's the recipe.

1 package of about 8 servings of pasta. (Butterfly, rotini, spirulina, elbow macaroni, or other small pasta)
1 stick of butter (don't use that M word CRAP. It will kill you.)
8-12 cloves of garlic, or 1 bulb of garlic.
2 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley (or about 1/2 cup fresh)
1 tsp basil (or 1 Tbsp fresh. You can use up to 1 Tbsp, find out how much you like. It's kinda strong so go easy on it)
1 tsp Rosemary (or about 1Tbsp fresh. This one adds some great kick without overpowering the whole thing, like basil can do)
1 tsp Italian herbs.
3/4 cup milk or (if you're needing to gain a couple pounds,) whipping cream or 1/2 and 1/2.
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Cook the pasta in about 5 or 6 quarts of water, drain it and either put it in another bowl, so you can use the pot for the sauce, or leave it in the pot and use a frying pan to make the sauce. I guess it depends on whether you want to wash a pot and a bowl, or a pot and a frying pan. I prefer the pot and the bowl method myself. You can just leave the pasta in the colander you drained it in too, if you're a sissy and use a colander. I prefer to just drain it from the pot, using the side of the sink to hold the pasta in the pot. It takes practice, and you'll get 2nd degree burns the first couple of times you try it, but no pain, no gain. That trick works great for Kraft dinner*, because you'll only have 1 pot to clean.

Anyway, when it comes to cooking the pasta, the more water the merrier. Don't skimp on how much water you use. If you do, the pasta will stick together and it's not fun to eat glued together pasta. Also, make sure the water is Boiling, or rather, at a rolling boil when you put the pasta in. I like to use the hottest tap water to fill the pot, because then you don't have to wait as long for the water to boil. Little bubbles on the bottom of the pan != boiling. Big bubbles, even after you've stirred the water == boiling. Don't skimp on this part either. (!= means does not equal.)

Now, most packages will say "add a pinch of salt to the water before boiling" I can agree if the pinch is being done by an elephant, or in reality, if the pinch is about 2 1/2 to 3 heaping tablespoons. I'm of the same opinion as the little old Italian ladies who say the perfect pasta-boiling water is taken from about 10 feet off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That's a SALTY water. This is because the salt seeps into the pasta and makes the whole piece of pasta taste good. (The same thing goes for rice too, btw. Adding salt after the fact isn't as good as properly salted water.) Doing that also makes it so you don't have to salt the pasta a lot at the end. If you use a really good pasta from Italy (Costco sells some great pasta from Italy) it'll take about 12 or 13 minutes to cook. Don't stop boiling until it's done. You want it to be done enough that it still holds its shape, but also is easy to bite. It's called al dente. Just try a piece of pasta every 30 seconds or so after 12 minutes have passed. If you get pasta stuck in the crevices in your teeth, cook it another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Test until it's just barely past the point of leaving some pasta in the crevices. You'll figure it out after ruining about 20 boxes of pasta like I have. Cheap American pasta will take less time to cook, but doesn't have as much protein in it, so it's not as filling. This technique is also good for spaghetti and pretty much any other pasta.

As you can see, it's not like you just boil some water and throw the pasta in. You have to actually COOK it. If you want 8-minute, 1-pan pasta, go get some *Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It's pretty good if you use butter instead of the dreaded M word, and it's easy, but you'll have almost ZERO satisfaction of a job well done, unless you're a 12-year old..

Next is the sauce. Judging from the amount of time you put into boiling the pasta, you're probably thinking that this isn't going to be worth all the trouble, but this part is actually not that hard. Anyway, here's what you do for the sauce.

Put the butter in the now-semi-clean pot (remember that we put the pasta into another bowl or the colander, for sissies. You don't have to clean the pot out, just make sure that there isn't any pasta pieces in it still,) or make it in a frying pan. You can also melt the butter in the microwave for 20 seconds and just put it in the pan. Put the pan on medium heat. Then use a garlic press to press about 4 cloves of garlic. There's a difference between a clove and a bulb of garlic. A bulb of garlic is the biggest form of garlic. It's the form it's in when they harvest it from the ground. There are about 8-12 cloves of garlic in an average bulb of garlic. It looks, surprisingly, like a flower bulb. It's about 1/4 the size of an average onion. So take your bulb of garlic and peel it and press 4 cloves into the butter. Then put the remaining whole cloves into the butter. You're going to cook them for about 7 minutes, or until you can see the garlic turning dark brown. That means the sugar is caramelizing and is turning the garlic sweet. If you don't do this part, the garlic will be really strong. This might be what you want, but your significant other will appreciate you cooking it a little more, because then, your breath won't be as strong later when they want to thank you for making such delicious pasta.

This is the part where you have to experiment with how many cloves of garlic you want to press and how many you want to leave whole. The more you press, the more garlicky the pasta will be. If your Sig-O doesn't really like garlic a lot, just press 2 cloves and leave the others whole. You can then save the whole cloves to eat yourself, just make sure they don't get any whole ones, or you and they will be in for an awful surprise. No one likes to chomp into a clove of garlic when they're not expecting it. :) If you're careful, your Sig-O will not even know there's garlic in the pasta, and you can casually slip it into later conversation that the great-tasting pasta you had last night actually had a little garlic in it. Then the next time you make it, press 3 cloves. The next, 4. Pretty soon, they'll be saying things like "it could use some more garlic," or "I could stand more garlic." It's then you'll know that it's true love.

Back at the pan, your garlic should be plenty cooked by now. It will be a little frothy, or foamy when it's ready. That means the garlic is releasing its delicious elixirs into the butter, making the rest of the sauce garlicky. You can now add all the spices. I know that the italian herbs duplicate some of the other herbs you put in, but it's supposed to do that.

It's known that garlic and parsley are the best of friends. In the culinary world, it's the equivalent of peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter and chocolate. Oh, wait, those are in the culinary world too. But still, the analogy fits. It's like they were made to go together. Somewhere in our ancient past, our ancestors combined these 2 tastes and saw that it was good. Really good. It became embedded into our DNA and now when you taste it, your ancestors are happy. :)

This garlic/parsley/butter mix is the base for the whole taste experience. Garlic and parsley. The other herbs really just round out the flavor and add a little kick to the whole thing, but this is the base. You'll want to fry the herbs for a couple of minutes in the butter/garlic sauce you already have going before adding the Parmesan cheese and milk. After you've mixed together the butter, herbs, cheese and milk, it will be a nice, slightly runny sauce. Simmer it for about 2 minutes. Then put the pasta back into the pot, or pour the sauce from the frying pan back into the pot, depending on where you made the sauce. Mix it together, making sure every piece of pasta gets a little bit of sauce on it. If you use the right kind of pasta, it will soak up all the sauce. This is where you can add a liiiiiittle bit of salt and some pepper to taste. Try it before you add any. It might be good as it is.

See? The sauce wasn't really that hard, now was it? You're done, and the more you make it, the more you'll be able to adjust the herbs and garlic to be just how you like it, which is the whole point of making your own food in the first place.

Serve with a grilled steak or chicken, or some seafood. Most seafood also loves the garlic, butter, and parsley combo, so you can't go wrong. Write me and let me know if this isn't the BEST pasta side you've ever had.