Spaghetti Pangrattato

Didn't do much today just lazing around, browsing through my notes and recipes trying to decide what recipe i should post today. So I found this pasta dish that I used to make when I'm alone at home on a Sunday afternoon.

Spaghetti Pangrattato
For this dish it doesn't have to be only spaghetti but u can use other long pastas like linguine or fettucine, just to name a few. You might be wondering : "Why only long pasta?? Can't short pasta like penne do the job??" Well I wouldn''t say that using short pasta is a big no-no, but you gotta know and understand what type of pasta is suitable for which cooking method or sauce. Short pasta like penne, rigatone or fusilli are hollow or have deep grooves that can hold chunky sauces like bolognese. While long pasta tends to be suitable for thinner sauces for example cream-based sauces like carbonara or simply Aglio olio. So if u ever feel that today is pasta day, decide on the sauce then choose your pasta. this way you'll know you won't go wrong.

1pkt Spaghetti
1/2 tbsp Dried chili flakes
10pcs Anchovy Fillets
800gm Breacrumbs
150gm Fresh thyme
3 cloves Thinly sliced garlic
1/2clove Whole garlic
6 tbsp Olive oil
2tbsp Salt
Lemon juice

Ok, in a hot pan, drizzle 4 tablespoons of olive oil and throw in the whole garlic. Heat up the garlic till its aroma starts to come through. Add the breadcrumbs and run your hands through the stem of those thyme and the leaves will come out, throw those in as well and fry them over medium heat. The breadcrumbs will start to toast, the thyme might start popping but no worries ok? Continue to stir until the crumbs are crispy. Once that is done, pour it out on a plate lined with kitchen towel to soak up the excess oil and cool down for later

Boil up a pot of salted water, add in the spaghetti and cook it for 7-8 minutes(2-3 minutes if it's fresh), stirring it around occasionally to prevent it ffrom sticking to each other and the bottom of the pot. Once it's 'Al Dente'( I'll explain later..), strain and shock it in cold water to stop the pasta from cooking any further.

Finally, in a large saute pan, heat up the remaining olive oil and add in the sliced garlic and chili flakes. Stir them around till fragrant, be careful not to burn them or else the whole dish will have s slight bitter taste. At that point, add in the anchovies and stir them around gently. You'll notice that the anchovies will start to "melt" or "disintergrate", no worries though, it only means that the anchovies have infused into the oil with the garlic and chili. Once anchovies are dissolved, add in the pasta and turn off the heat, this will prevent the pasta from sticking to the pan and overcooking. Toss the pasta in the oil and squeeze a bit of lemon juice into the pasta to cut the oiliness.

To serve, pour the pasta onto individual plates and spoon the breadcrumbs over the pasta.

Points to take note...
'Al Dente' means 'Good enough to bite' or 'To the teeth'. To me it just means that you'll feel a slight resistance from the pasta when u bite into it. A lot of singaporeans have a misconception of the term and tends to over cook the pasta until its so soft it mashes up when you just gently pinch it. And when i tried cooking pasta for my friends and family they tend to say its a bit hard or undercooked and I ave to explain to them over and over again that that is the true 'Al Dente'. How do you know it's 'Al Dente'?? Well following the cooking time is one way, another is to basically take a bite. Firstly is the texture, you should feel the slight crunch and when u look into the pasta, there should be a small white spot in the middle. Once you've observe all of the above, you get Al Denta pasta every single time.