Garlic Pasta Recipe is a simple yet flavorful dish made with spaghetti, olive oil, butter, garlic, herbs and spices. In this Italian inspired Garlic Butter Pasta recipe, cooked spaghetti is tossed in a delicious garlic butter sauce made with extra virgin olive oil, butter, garlic, herbs, spices & pasta water. Makes for a quick, easy and comforting lunch or dinner.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Italian, World

Ingredients

  • 250 grams spaghetti
  • 5 cups water
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt (or add as required)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter (- unsalted)
  • 2 tablespoons garlic (- minced)
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (- * read point no 4 in the notes section for substitutes)
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper ((black pepper powder))
  • 3 tablespoons parsley (- chopped)
  • 3 tablespoons basil (- chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • few pinches of salt (- if needed, optional)

Method

Cooking Pasta

  1. Begin with boiling water with the salt in pot or saucepan.
  2. Take the spaghetti and place them inside the boiling water carefully. Do not break them prior to keeping them in water. Simply keep them in water.
  3. Once they start cooking, they will soften and then you can immerse the top of the spaghetti with the help of pasta tongs inside the water.
  4. Cook spaghetti until they are al dente or just about cooked with a bite in the center.
  5. Using strainer, drain the cooked pasta water, but do reserve ½ cup of pasta water. Set the spaghetti aside.

Make Garlic Butter Sauce

  1. In a sauté pan or frying pan, take extra virgin olive oil and butter.
  2. Keep on a low heat and let the butter melt.
  3. When the butter melts, add minced garlic.
  4. Stir to mix the garlic evenly with the butter and olive oil mixture.
  5. Cook garlic on a low heat until it become golden.
  6. Stir occasionally while cooking garlic.
  7. First the garlic will become light golden.Keep a check as once the garlic becomes light golden it can burn or brown too much within the blink of an eye.
  8. Once the garlic turns light golden, keep on stirring often until garlic starts to turn golden. Turn off heat when the garlic becomes golden.
  9. Place pan on countertop.
  10. Add smoked paprika and black pepper.
  11. Stir to combine and mix. The spices will cook with the residue heat of the fats.
  12. Ensure that the spices are evenly mixed with the garlic and olive and butter mixture.
  13. Next add reserved pasta water. Place pan on stovetop and begin to heat.Keep in mind that the reserved pasta water already has salt in it.
  14. Simmer the mixture for about 1½ to 2 minutes on medium-low heat or until the sauce thickens slightly and is emulsified well.

Make Garlic Pasta

  1. Using pasta tongs, add the spaghetti to the prepared garlic butter sauce in the pan.
  2. Toss and mix well with the help of the pasta tongs. Cook pasta for 2 to 3 minutes or until all the liquids have dried up.
  3. Add lemon juice and stir to combine. Lemon juice can be reduced or skipped altogether according to your taste preferences.
  4. Lastly add the chopped herbs - parsley and basil.
  5. Mix again and turn off heat. Check the taste of the prepared Garlic Butter Pasta and add a few pinches of salt if needed.
  6. Serve Garlic Pasta hot or warm garnished with some vegetarian parmesan cheese or basil or parsley if you like.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.