Too many friends? Eat this.

First off, I can't take any credit for this recipe which is very similar to something that Jon Favreau cooked in his brilliant movie "Chef". No doubt its a common enough recipe beyond that. Here, I've just added a bit of salami and some bits of fresh tomato but the basic premise is the same - lots of olive oil, garlic, chilli and parsley - with some cooked pasta stirred through it. I'm also conscious that:

• the main substance of this post is a recipe rather than a repair or fix of something; and
• I've not posted a repair or fix of something on this page for about a year

The main reasons for that are:

• I was describing this recipe to someone the other day and they asked me to send the details. Putting the recipe on here seemed the more logical thing to do; and
• I've not successfully repaired or fixed anything for about a year

Anyway, if you fancy making this for your tea, it is really is very simple.

Ingredients (serves one (or two as a starter)):

• Lots of garlic chopped length ways, not crushed or diced
• Salami (done in a sort of julienne)
• Dried chilli flakes (I like it hot so about a tablespoon)
• About four baby plum tomatoes (chopped into quarters lengthways)
• A good handful of chopped fresh parsley ( I prefer the curly variety but any will do)
• An obscene amount of good olive oil (I use EV)
• Whatever pasta floats your boat (I used bronze-die penne because its great at holding the oil)

Method:

Get the ingredients ready. If you're using dried pasta, you can do all the chopping whilst bringing the water for the pasta to the boil.

Assuming that your pasta is going to take about 8 minutes to cook, you want to be adding the chopped garlic to a frying pan with the olive oil just before adding the pasta to the boiling water. The oil in the pan should be hot but not smoking.

Allow the garlic to sizzle for a minute or two until it starts to colour. At this point, turn the heat right down and add the salami and chilli flakes.

Resist the temptation to stir. For the next five minutes the contents of the frying pan should barely sizzle. It's more like a steep than a fry. All the while though, the heat in the pan will be turning that garlic into something that is soft, sweet and mellow.

About two minutes before the pasta is ready, turn the frying pan heat up a bit and add the tomatoes. Again, do not stir. And again, you do not want much of a sizzle - really, all you are doing is warming the tomatoes through rather than cooking them.

When the pasta is ready, drain it properly. But before you do that, add all the parsley to the frying pan and turn the heat up. By the time you've drained the pasta, the contents of the frying pan should be sizzling.

Turn the heat off as you add the drained pasta to the frying pan. Stir a bit and then serve immediately.

Have a bread roll handy for mopping up any spare oil.

Avoid interacting with people for at least two days after consuming this meal. You'll stink if you put the correct amount of garlic in :)

Enjoy

D...