I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Mom Central for the National Pasta Association. I received pastasamples and a stipend to facilitate the creation of pasta recipes as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
Growing up with an Italian grandmother meant that we had plenty of pasta on the table at family gatherings. Spaghetti was pretty much her go-to meal, and with good reason. At one point, she had five children, nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and several spouses of her children and grandchildren to feed. Mind you, we rarely all got together at the same time, but a typical gathering featured at least 2/3 of us! Spaghetti was pretty much the easiest and least expensive way to make sure we were all well-fed. My gran’s spaghetti sauce was famous in the family. In fact, we still have a jar of it in our freezer. When she passed away nearly seven years ago, we couldn’t bear to throw it out.
Pasta is also one of the few things that I can cook well. I’m never going to be a culinary genius. You’ll never see me whipping up some of the amazing dinners that you see on Pinterest. It’s just not going to happen. I can, however, make pretty good pasta! I love experimenting with different flavors, but one thing shows up every time: Parmesan cheese. I am one of those people who could dump a bucket of it on every meal! So when I saw the Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Noodles recipe on the Pasta Fits website, I knew that was the one I wanted to try for this post.
Easy Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. spaghetti or other favorite noodles
- 4 heads of garlic (I used ones that were already, um, beheaded? I don’t know garlic terms, sorry!)
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil total (the original recipe called for a drizzle. I must have done something wrong with the garlic, because it was a little dry, so I used more olive oil).
- 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese (Or, you know, a bucket full if you prefer! Seriously, I added more, I ALWAYS add more Parm)
- Pinchful of oregano leaves
- Salt and pepper
Directions (I changed the order from the original recipe because it made the timing easier for me)
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Cut off the tops of the garlic heads and put them in a small baking dish (I used mini loaf pans). Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes
- Cook your pasta according to the directions while your garlic is roasting.
- Remove garlic from oven and let cool a few minutes.
- Put the garlic heads, Parm cheese and another drizzle of your olive oil into a food processor or chopper until it turns into a nice paste.
- Drain the noodles, toss with the paste and the rest of your olive oil. You’ll need to really mix it . You can see how mine was a bit chunky when I took it out of the food chopper. I think it’s supposed to be more of a paste, but this actually worked well once mixed with the olive oil.
Pasta Fits Back to School Season & Beyond
With back to school season officially here, our routine is a bit more, well, routine. I’m back to at least trying to regularly cook dinners for me and Jake. Pasta works for us because it’s easy, super budget-friendly and very diverse. It’s pretty much impossible to ever run out of great pasta recipes! Kind of like how you can never see everything at the Smithsonian in a single life time, you can never try every single pasta dish in one life! Plus the complex carbs help keep us going throughout the evening! After a day of staring at the computer screen, I need something that packs a good energy punch to get me through the rest of the night.
Pasta Fits is a terrific resource for learning more about the different types of pasta, its benefits and, of course, tons of great recipes. They also have fun contests, cooking tips and a pasta shapes dictionary! The pasta I used in my recipe is called Gigli. It’s awesome, because it’s a nice, hearty pasta. I think it would be pretty amazing in a soup, since it holds up so well. After you check out their interesting website, be sure to follow Pasta Fits on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news! Check out their Pinterest page for more great recipe ideas. Come back next month for another easy pasta recipe!
What is your favorite way to prepare pasta?
Sounds delicious! I love garlic!
This is my kind of go-to comfort food – love roast garlic. Also love smoked garlic, don’t know if you’ve tried it? Gorgeous subtle flavour.
I’ve never tried smoked garlic. I’ll have to look up how to do that!
That sounds SO good. Dishes like this always go over well with my family.
Yum! I can smell the garlic from here! This sounds and looks delicious!
Yummy i want to make this so easy and i love pasta in any form.
Yum! This sounds so good! I am going to have to try it for dinner soon.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! We love pasta in our house. You can always find a Tupperware bowl of it in the fridge. I am always looking for new recipes to try. This one sounds amazing! It’s going on the menu next week. Thanks!
I made pasta last night. My kids would love this!
That looks like a quick and easy meal to make for my family. I’m always looking for new recipe ideas.
I love ALL pasta and don’t have a favorite. I actually have to be careful when pasta is near me. I lose control! This looks wonderful and so fresh!
This looks great. Pasta is one of our most favorite family dishes. We’re always looking for new ways to make it.
Oh no! Pasta is my weakness!!!! This sounds so good. It has me hungry and I just ate supper not to long ago. I will be trying this for sure!
This sounds like a delicious dish and I hope to try it out during the upcoming week.
I guess spaghetti is my go-to form of pasta, but I love different varieties.
I just came across your website. Thanks for the great pasta dish. Youv’e inspired me to make this for dinner tonight.
Roasted garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Yum. Who needs the pasta?
this looks soooo good and easy to make too! count me in !!!! yummy
basic but delicious!
My hubby is a pasta fan and I can tell already that your recipe will simply be a hit in our family because of the presence of garlic! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Wow this sounds very tasty! We love pasta and trying new ones so maybe I can give this a try! Thanks for sharing!
Don’t laugh, but I have never roasted my own garlic before, but who knew it was so simple? Pasta is a comfort food for us year round and I bet this is going to quickly become a favorite!
Love how easy this is and the garlic….yum
Pasta is huge in our family …. I can always count on my kids to eat well when we have pasta! We’ll have to try this one. 🙂
That looks so good! I would love to make that for my family.
Yum this looks so delicious our family is big on pasta. Me not so much because all the carbs, but totally worth a try (:
My favorite way to prepare pasta is probably as lasagna. I don’t know I don’t really have a favorite way to prepare it, but I LOVE my pasta! 😀
This recipe looks utterly divine and being such a huge fan of anything with garlic I am so going to have to give this a try with a few changes. 🙂
This looks SO good. I love the fresh garlic and olive oil.
Ohhh, yum! This sounds absolutely delicious! I love Parmesan and Garlic, so this looks like something I might enjoy!
I love pasta and garlic. It is so easy to make. Thanks for new recipe.