Aglio e Olio, with a Mexican twist!

Aglio e Olio (or just Olio in my house) is an Italian dish of pasta made with a sauce of olive oil and garlic and tossed, or topped with Parmesan cheese. This is a Staple in our house, and it's one if those dishes that can be a main course, a side, or a light lunch by adding different meats, vegetables, herbs and spices.

Today I set about to make some olio for lunch because my friend Sonia sent me some Pappardelle pasta from New York that I was dying to try.

Sonia and I met in a cooking group on Facebook. She previously lived in Texas, but now lives in New York State. I, of course, am a Jersey girl living in Texas. She expressed a difficulty in finding ingredients for her Mexican dishes and I commiserated that I found it difficult to locate good quality ingredients for my Italian dishes. We became instant friends and began to share ideas and cooking tips. She has a great wealth of knowledge in Hispanic and Mexican cuisine. I picked her brain a LOT! 

During our chats we found that some of the things I had a hard time finding were in abundance in her supermarket and some of the things she found scarce were plentiful here in Texas, so we decided to send each other care packages! OMG! What fun!!

Here is the delightful assortment of pasta that Sonia sent to me! I can't even tell you how hard it was to save the ziti for cooking with my mom on her visit! It was hard but I had to do it because she is the Ziti Queen. So I set those aside and focused on the pappardelle. Very difficult to find here, although I don't know why. This is a wonderful pasta to eat!

So, I was thinking of the pappardelle from Sonia and I wanted to give it a creative sauce worthy of its cross country journey. This pasta wasn't to be wasted! I had to make it worth every bite! At that point I was stirring tomato sauce, and my jar of mojo was on the counter, having just added a blob to my sauce and the idea of using it in the olio began to form.

Mojo is something new in my house, I learned about it from my friend and fellow food enthusiast, Laura Lopez. Laura had mentioned she was making mojo (pronounced Mo Ho), a monthly event at her house. I was intrigued! Her explanation was simple; slow roasted garlic cloves in olive oil and lime juice. 

The day I made the mojo I couldn't find the original recipe. It was pretty basic, from what I remembered, half a dozen or more full heads of garlic, peeled and smashed with olive oil in the oven for a while then a few splashes of lime juice and another short while. We winged it and it came out great even if it was completely wrong! We ate it on freshly made artisan bread, spread it on sandwiches and added it to savory dishes every day for 2 weeks! We have since made it several times and find there is no need for a conventional recipe, if we're doing it wrong we don't want to know! So, I added some to the Olio as a substitute for the raw garlic and it came out delicious! 

Here is a quick recipe for Olio that you can adjust with additions as you like:

Oglio e olio

1 lb pasta 

4 Tablespoons butter

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 to 8 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 cup cooked, or 2 large handfuls fresh spinach

1 cup pasta water

1/2 to 1 cup shredded parm

1. In a large fry pan, melt butter in olive oil and add garlic. Add the spinach and bring to a gentle simmer.

2. Cook the pasta a minute or 2 LESS than al dente. (pasta will finish cooking in sauce), reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain the rest

3. Add the pasta water to the sauce and bring to a boil.

4. Add the pasta to the sauce mixture, reduce and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes while sauce reduces. 

5. Remove from heat and toss with cheese.

*Sometimes I sautee some mushrooms, then deglaze with white wine before adding the butter and olive oil. I add pre-cooked things like chicken, shrimp, or artichokes at the end.