Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pasta with 12 Whole Cloves of Garlic or Rather One Whole Head of Garlic!!


How many cloves of garlic are in one garlic head? Have you ever stopped to count? Yesterday I did just that. Mark Bittman's pasta with whole cloves of garlic called for 10 whole cloves. I went into the pantry and dug out one head of garlic. As I started to remove the cloves, I noticed that there were about 12 cloves on my garlic head. When you're already making pasta with ten whole cloves of garlic, what is two more cloves, right? I decided to use the whole head of garlic in this pasta dish!! That's right..... pasta with an entire head of garlic, now that's exciting stuff. What can I say? I live on the edge, especially on Wednesday afternoons.

Look at all that beautiful garlic!

Just look at all those cloves of garlic...yum!

Pasta with Whole Cloves of Garlic, AKA Maccheroni alla San Giovanniello
Adapted from How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
1/3 cup olive oil or butter (I used a mix)
10 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed (I used 12-13 because I'm crazy like that)
1/2 cup prosciutto or other salted ham or slab bacon cut into cubes or strips (I used bacon)
6 plum tomatoes or 1-1/2 cups drained canned tomatoes (I used canned)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound cut pasta, such as ziti or penne (I used ziti)
1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
1 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, or a combo
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Combine the oil/butter, garlic, and ham in a medium to large skillet over medium-low heat (I used the #2 setting on my electric stovetop, anything higher would've burnt the garlic). Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the garlic becomes deep golden, nearly brown, all over, 10-15 minutes.
Core and chop the plum tomatoes (or crush the canned tomatoes) and add them, along with salt and pepper, to the skillet. Stir and simmer while you salt the boiling water and cook the pasta.
Drain the pasta when it is tender but firm, reserving a little of the cooking water and adding it to the sauce if it appears dry (quite likely if you used fresh tomatoes). Toss the pasta with the sauce and most of the basil, along with the cheese. Mince the remaining basil, garnish the pasta with it, and serve.

Notes/Results: I loved it and thought it was a very restaurant worthy meal. The sauce had a wonderful mellow garlic flavor. Yes, I said mellow garlic flavor!! Hard to believe that 12 cloves of garlic could produce a mellow garlic flavor, right? Well, the garlic was definitely present, but was not overpowering at all. There were times when I looked down at my fork and saw two whole cloves of garlic on my fork at the same time. I was convinced that I was going to have some powerful garlic breath, but that wasn't the case at all. In addition, the sauce had a creaminess to it from the Parmesan cheese. I loved the little chewy pieces of bacon, which pleasantly found their way inside of the pasta. Bacon inside of pasta is always a good thing! Overall, this was an excellent meal and the leftovers, although short-lived, were even tastier the next day!


This is my submission for this week's Garlic Breath theme over at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we are celebrating the recipes of Mark Bittman.

28 comments:

  1. Be prepared to communicate on the phone for a week following this dish, because it is guaranteed to give you garlic breath. LOL! This looke like a very tasty dish, I'm impressed that you up the ante with a few extra cloves.

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  2. It's always when you *think* you don't have garlic breath that you find out later how bad it really was. That tends to happen after important meetings or when seeing new people :) This pasta looks worth it though!

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  3. I like your style ;) And yes, this sounds amazingly delicious!

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  4. Hey, when it comes to garlic, more is better! But then, I'm Italian, so maybe I'm a bit biased. :)

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  5. "What is two more cloves, right?" I like that attitude.

    Garlic, bacon, pasta...this is my family's kind of dish. Honestly. We would love this. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. I can’t believe how good this looks!I will be making this soon!!

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  7. Love garlic and will be making this soon. Who cares about garlic breath?

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  8. Garlic is good for you, right! So, this is extra good!

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  9. Mmm I bet this is so yummy. THe only problem with eating this much garlic is tomorrow, even after brushing, your mouth will still taste like garlic... watch and see LOL ;)
    *kisses* HH

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  10. I do love garlic and just make sure everyone around me has copious amounts so we are all in the same boat! And bacon inside your pasta is a very good thing! Fun and delicious post!

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  11. As long as your whole family is eating, should be okay. Can't go far wrong with those flavors either - bacon and garlic. I'm going to do it soon.

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  12. 12 cloves of garlic is a LOT of garlic. But I tend to think the more the merrier! I'm shocked that the garlic wasn't overwhelming, but it just endears me to the pasta even more! Sounds delicious.

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  13. This recipe looks awesome! Garlic breath, schmarlic breath. If the whole family eats it then no one notice! :D

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  14. This looks really good and WOW! 12!!! lol

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  15. I'm with you--the more garlic the better. This is going on my list!

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  16. Are you kidding me? Bacon inside of pasta AND a whole head of garlic. This is right up my alley. I'm sold! I would have done the same thing...just add the extra two cloves. Just another reason why I love your blog. This pasta dish looks fabulous!

    Hope you have a lovely LONG weekend with your family!

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  17. I would have done the exact same thing and added the extra garlic. I love garlic, so I'm sure I'd really enjoy this meal too.

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  18. Can't get too garlicky for me! Yum :)

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  19. I sure love garlic in pasta!

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  20. The more garlic the better. ;-) This look delicious--love all of the ingredients--bacon and garlic nothing could be better.

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  21. I agree with Deb, you can't have too much garlic. No way. I like pasta ALOT so this one will be ear marked . Mmmmmm

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  22. As a serious garlic and pasta lover I really want to try this! I don't think I ever had anything with this much garlic in it. It looks crazy good!

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  23. This sounds absolutely delicious. I don't think there is anything as too much garlic!

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  24. Exceptional, Kim! A great main course or a superb side dish. I love this one!

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  25. Sounds great to me. When I make the families favorite pasta with garlic and chili peppers and tomatoes, I always leave the garlic in after and love how soft and mellow they taste.

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  26. It's been said before, you can never have too much garlic! What a simple and delicious pasta.
    Mimi

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  27. This really sounds delicious. We use a lot of garlic here. I know I'd love this dish. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  28. WE made this tonight along with some crusty French bread and absolutely loved it. Even my little ones were going back for seconds. Thanks for a great recipe!!!

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