MasterChef at Home: Make Aldo’s Favourite Easy Pasta Dish in 20 Minutes

If you’ve been following the MasterChef Australia journey at home, you’ll know that Aldo Ortado was the latest contestant to pack his apron and leave the competition. On departing the MasterChef kitchen, we asked Aldo to share his favourite quick and easy recipe – his response? A recipe for pasta aglio e olio e peperoncino (pasta with garlic evoo and chilli).

Here’s how you make it at home.

MasterChef at Home: Aldo’s pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino recipe

Cook time: 20 minutes

What you’ll need for pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino:

• dry spaghetti pasta
• chilli
• garlic
• olive oil
• parsley

Directions for pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino:

1. For this recipe, there are just a few steps to follow. First of all, is starting with a pasta saucepan. Fill it up with water and a handful of salt and place it on high heat (this will be used to boil the pasta).
2. Allow the water to get to boil.
3. At the same time using a frypan add a generous amount of olive oil, finely chopped garlic and the finely chopped chilli.
4. Place the frypan on a low heat (the oil doesn’t need to be super hot but just hot enough to allow the aroma and flavours of the garlic and chilli to infuse).
5. Cook the garlic and chilli in oil for 10 minutes.
6. You will see a change in the colour it will turn into a light red, and then you know to stop cooking.
7. Now our water is boiling and let’s drop the spaghetti in, they will take no longer than 9 minutes to cook, but we will stop the cooking at 7 minutes, so we can finish cooking in the oil so they can absorb the flavoured oil.
8. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss the pasta in the oil add a bit of cooking water to allow it to create a lovely creamy texture.
9. Keep cooking for no longer than a minute and then you will be ready to serve it. Sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy. Buon appetite!

For more MasterChef recipes to try after this easy pasta dish, check out this one-pot braised potato dish or fried chicken next.