Easy Clean Up Low Spoon Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Okay so aglio e olio is garlic and oil, and this is kind of a travesty of that, but it works really well in a pinch and only uses one bowl, one pot, a slotted cooking spoon, and a fork.
It’s also super cheap, versatile if you want to add meat and veggies, and eating it is kind of like playing. Also I took pictures! And got really carried away on detail and options! Yay! So let’s get started!
Ingredients
Spaghetti, salt, garlic powder, oregano, parsley, parmesan, and olive oil.
Method
First, read your spaghetti packaging and set that up to cook in a pot of water with a tablespoon of salt and some of the herbs if you like. If your pasta chronically sticks like mine does, spray a tiny bit of cooking oil spray into it.
You should probably stir this occasionally with the spoon.
Second, while that’s going, get your bowl and other ingredients together. Pour just enough oil to cover the bottom of the bowl. Let’s say it’s 2 tablespoons in case you like measurements more than I do.
Shake some garlic powder into it. I’d go with about 2 teaspoons worth, but you know your garlic preferences more than I do. Stir with the fork you intend to eat with until the garlic powder is saturated with oil.
Do the same with about 1/2 teaspoon each of oregano and parsley.
You can absolutely do this with other spices too. If you’re more of a sage or thyme person, use that instead of oregano. You could probably add bacon bits. Have fun with it.
Okay now the good stuff. Add parmesan until that stuff is a thick parmesan paste. I’d say I added a tablespoon, tablespoon and a half tops. I made one serving but you can scale up if you have a spoonie friend to feed. You could probably put this in the fridge for a few days too.
Neato, now in order for this to get all over the pasta like I want, I have to add just a touch more oil to loosen it up. I added a teaspoon, roughly. Don’t add a lot, because your pasta will have water on it and that will loosen it too. Stir a bit.
It looks like this now. You could also just dip bread in this to be honest. I’ve been to catered parties where they literally give you this kind of thing and bread. It’s fancy.
Okay now you can use your slotted spoon or a strainer to strain your pasta, or you can be fancy and pick it out with tongs.
(Tongs are great. No strainer to clean, and it’s how you’re technically supposed to pick up pasta anyway.)
Stir that stuff like a bat out of hell for a minute. The parmesan will heat up and get sticky, so you don’t want it to all stick to the bowl. You want it to stick to the noodles.
Ta daaa! Blurry noodles! I added a bit more parmesan on top because I care more about taste than rationing my cheese today.
When you eat this, it’s best to swish the noodles across the bottom and scrap around the sides to get more oil and parmesan on them. I consider this fun. If you hate that, a plate might work better.
Be advised, this is a napkins food. Oil will try to run away. Noodles will be slippery. Add more parmesan to cut down on stickiness, but have a napkin.
Clean Up
Your pot and spoon should just need a rinse, but your bowl needs to be wiped out into the trash and then rinsed with very hot water.
I let the water heat while I wipe it out and then hold the bowl with two hands on the bottom/sides and angle it under the stream. Then I wiggle it a bit, leave some water in the bottom, and set it in the sink to soak.
Run the cold water so you don’t burn yourself next time you have to wash hands.
Inspect your eating area for specks of oil. Wipe up. Wipe hands and mouth as much as possible with a napkin.
Optional Stuff
I said this was versatile, right? I shudder to call any low spoon food unhealthy, because eating is healthy. Whatever gets food into your tired and hungry body is a good thing. But this is pretty sparse on nutritional value.
You can add veggies. Toss some chopped broccoli, frozen or fresh, into the water with your noodles. Frozen onions also work and canned vegetables like peas also work.
If you’re okay pushing a spoon around and dirtying another pan, you can add all kinds of stuff. OR, you can empty the spaghetti into the noodles and use that pan to quickly cook things.
Peppers. Onions. Real garlic. Cook them in a scaled up version of the oil and herb mix and add the parmesan when you serve. Put your noodles in the pan and push them around on medium heat for a minute to really stick the oil to them. They also fry a little which is pretty nice.
You can also swap your regular spaghetti noodles for noodles with veggies in them. Spinach noodles or tri-color veggie noodles would still be tasty here.
You can add protein. I may have already mentioned adding bacon bits to the oil with everything else, but you can totally do that.
Beans are also a good additive. They come in a can and you can add just a few and microwave them in the oil, then save the rest for another meal.
Chopped lunchmeats, salami, or kielbasa (cooked) are pretty nice additions.
If you have a pasteurized egg that you trust (your judgement call, not mine), you can carbonara that stuff.
Carbonara sauce is whipped egg added to hot pasta and fat/oil so that it cooks mildly and slowly to create a creamy sauce. You don’t want them raw and you don’t want them scrambled.
I microwave it in ten second intervals while stirring furiously inbetween because I’m in the USA where eggs aren’t super safe to consume partially raw. If you’re really energetic you can whip the eggs over the lowest heat with butter and a little water. That’s how I make katsudon sauce usually, but with dashi.
You can add even more dairy or carbs!
Ok lets he real, you knew you could add more cheese. But if you feel weird deviating from a recipe, I’m telling you you can.
You can make thick pasta sauce by dissolving panko breading in oil too. It gets clumpy and oily and absorbs the spices too. Heat it a little and it’ll fry.
You can also totally add whatever cheese your heart desires so long as it melts. Feta? Go for it. Mozzarella? Do it. Queso blanco or string cheese? Only if you have a blow torch on hand.
