Have fun saying this one; it's a great recipe to knock up any time of day or night, as most of us are always stocked up with dried spaghetti, dried chillies, and olive oil. The only fresh ingredient is the garlic, but most of us always have a supply of this also. So when the larder is looking bare, this is a dead cert! Also, by removing the garlic cloves after they are cooked you're getting the flavour of the garlic without too much of the garlic breath....

Olive oil (not Extra Virgin, strangely)

6 cloves of Garlic, whole de-skinned

Dried chillies, or flakes if that's all you have

Spaghetti

Grated parmesan

Put about six tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan on high heat. I found Extra Virgin olive oil can be a little overpowering, unless you're a big fan of it.

Crush the garlic cloves a little by laying your big knife over the clove and banging it with the palm of your hand so that they split.

Add them to the hot olive oil. Pino, my old bass player, keeps them in until they are completely black, black (be prepared to cough, 'cos the aroma and the smoke gets stuck in the back of your throat, but I like to stop a little short of that). Then add one chopped dried chilli, or a teaspoonful of chilli flakes. The whole chopped chilli is a little more decorative.... Switch off the heat. Remove the garlic cloves (don't use anything that's wet, like the utensil you used to stir the pasta! Trust me...)

Drain the pasta, put it back in the pan and pour the sizzling sauce over the top.

This really needs lots of fresh black pepper on the top and grated parmesan to get the full effect. A big ol' glass of red wine also helps!

PY