So back when I was younger and lived with my parents, whenever it was my dad's night to cook he would fall back on a couple old stand-by's. He would either make burgers, which were great, grilled cheese, which would literally make me vomit(sorry Dad, and anyone reading this blog for the mental image BUT IT'S TRUE), or his special "Dad's Spaghetti" was was fantastic. In the original Dad's Spaghetti, crispy bits of fried proscuitto is used instead of sun dried tomato. I settled on the tomato as a good vegan replacement because it was the right color, similar chewy texture and a nice complement to the garlic and parsley.
I see a lot of recipes like this around on different food websites and the one ingredient they always leave out is something which makes this dish really special: breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs do a great job soaking up the flavorful sun dried tomato and garlicky oil so that the pasta isn't slick and slimy, but rather moist and a little crunchy and packed with flavor. This is a low effort dish that works great on weeknights when you want a home-cooked meal but don't have a lot of time to spare.
Comfortably feeds three
Ingredients:
7-8 cloves crushed and very finely chopped garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs (or more to taste - different brands absorb moisture differently)
13.5 oz box of spaghetti
2.5 cups thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes
1 3/4 cups rinsed and chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
2 tbsp olive oil (depending on if your tomatoes are dried or stored in oil you will want to adjust this. If they are dried maybe bump it up to 3 tbsp - if they are stored in oil feel free to reduce it depending on how much oil you use from the tomatoes.)
salt and pepper to taste
Note: I did not slice my tomatoes as thinly as I should have in these pictures. They should be about the size of half an almond, not big chunks like I have here.
Most of the work for this dish is prep. Get all your ingredients ready - chop your tomatoes, garlic, parsley, measure out your breadcrumbs and cook and drain your pasta according to the instruction on the box
All set? OK!
On medium low heat lightly fry your tomatoes and garlic in the oil in a large pan(I used a wok). The tomatoes burn very easily so stir constantly and keep a close eye on them. In this case we're not trying to caramelize anything, just releasing the flavor into the oil, so you can put your tomatoes, garlic and oil in the pan while it's cold and then warm it up until they are sizzling nicely. Don't risk burning them by throwing them into an already blistering hot pan.
After about 3 minutes of this add your noodles and coat with the oil, garlic and tomatoes. Add your breadcrumbs, stir until combined then take it off the heat and add the parsley, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Continue folding the pasta over itself gently until all the ingredients are well mixed. At this point the incredible aroma of garlic and sun-dried tomato should be driving you a little crazy so immediately plate and serve. If you want, garnish with Parmesan cheese though it really doesn't need it.
*I added a Brazilian and Portuguese market in Arlington to the Useful Grocery Stores section of this blog.
