Recipe: Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco's simple Pasta Aglio Olio

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MANILA, Philippines — Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco runs a well-known restaurant called Gypsy Baguio by Chef Waya in the Summer Capital of the Philippines.

The restaurant gets incredibly busy, especially when there happens to be a special occasion or activity, such as Valentine’s Day, the Panagbenga Festival, and the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Homecoming. By the time service is done and Chef Waya gets home, she is tired and hungry. 

No complaints, she said, because this is good for business, and she and her staff are always happy to serve customers.

But she does have to address her own hunger, and most of the time, all she wants is something simple, hot, comforting and quick to make.

“Almost always, noodles fit the bill, but I try not to fall into the instant ramen trap, and my go-to is Aglio Olio pasta. Super quick to make, and so deeply satisfying to eat,” Chef Waya said.

Here is her recipe — or non-recipe, as she calls it! — for Pasta Aglio Olio.

Pasta Aglio Olio

Ingredients:

500 grams spaghetti

1-2 heads garlic

1/4 cup olive oil, or more

Salt

Pepper or Pepperoncini or chili flakes

Preserved lemons (completely optional)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Chopped parsley

Procedure:

1. Put a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Lightly salt. Once it gets to a rolling boil, put in the spaghetti noodles.

2. Start up the sauce in a pan on another burner. Add garlic into the olive oil while it is still cool and let them warm up together over low flame. Once the garlic is soft and starting to get a golden color, pour in a couple of ladlefuls of water from the cooking pasta. Be careful, it will spit and sputter!

3. Swirl the oil and water together. Add peppers and preserved lemons. Turn up the fire and let the mixture boil rather vigorously to reduce.

4. Once the pasta is around three-fourths of the way done, which means it still has a hard white core of uncooked pasta in the middle, around 6 to 7 minutes into your cooking, transfer it to the sauce pan using tongs. It will finish cooking in the sauce. Swirl the pasta into the oil and water mixture, keep it moving to emulsify and thicken into a sauce.

5. Test the pasta for doneness and add a bit more salt and pepper if you feel like it. If it is a little dry, add a bit more pasta cooking water and swirl again.

6. Tip into a serving plate. Garnish with parsley, lots of Parmesan cheese, a quick glug of olive oil and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy!