Sitting and lurking food

I like cooking without a recipe. I like cooking by instinct. Making things up with the stuff I’ve got in the pantry and the fridge.

We’ve had a few lemons sitting for a while on the oval, stainless steel platter that we use as a fruit bowl. And for a few days, I’ve had the last of a bag of Italian parsley lurking in the fruit and vegetable crisper bin in the fridge. That combination of things sitting and lurking led to me think about a certain pasta for several days - spaghetti aglio e olio. But, in truth, the pasta I’ve been thinking about wasn’t spaghetti aglio e olio, because, it turns out, spaghetti aglio e olio is simply spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. Should be obvious enough from the name, shouldn’t it?

For some reason, I had it my head that a spaghetti aglio e olio involved garlic and olive oil, but also chilli flakes, lemon juice and finely chopped Italian parsley.

Because of the sitting and lurking lemons and parsley, it was the latter that I wanted and needed to make - the not quite aglio e olio.

I made it for lunch today, on one of my work from home days. Instead of using spaghetti I used the last of a box of fusilli. And, in another deviation from the real recipe, I added a little shredded roast chicken. I have a lot of roast chicken in the fridge, you see, because I decided to buy one of the cold, pre-roasted chooks that you can buy at Waitrose, to shred up for sandwiches and salads for lunches. Those chickens are a good deal. They’re about five - six quid, very nicely cooked, and you get plenty of meat off them. I’ve also got a plastic box of all the leftover bones sitting in the fridge waiting to be turned into stock. I’ll use the stock to make a prawn wonton soup - a good way to use up the wontons that are sitting in the depths of the freezer.

See, there’s lots you can do with things sitting round and lurking in your kitchen.

Not Quite Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Handful or two of any dried pasta - I used fusilli

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Olive oil

Handful of shredded roast chicken

Chilli flakes

Finely chopped Italian parsley

Juice of 1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for one minute less then is recommended.

While the pasta is cooking, finely chop the garlic and parsley.

When the pasta has about five minutes to go, add a good glug of olive oil to a frying pan, warm it, and add the chopped garlic to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often, until the garlic is starting to take on some colour.

Add the shredded chicken to the pan, and season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste. Stir everything together, and leave the chicken to warm through for a few minutes.

Drain the pasta and add it to the frying pan, along with the lemon juice, a glug of extra virgin olive oil, and more salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

Turn the heat off, add the parsley to the pan and stir it through the pasta. Plate your pasta, and finish it with another good glug of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling of chilli flakes to taste.

Nice with a few leaves of crispy cos and some shredded spring onions.