Pan-fried or Sauteed pasta with garlic & Romano cheese

Another meal inspired by leftovers but what a meal! Make too much pasta whenever you can so that you can enjoy it. It is simply delicious. As I mentioned in a earlier post I came upon pan-fried pasta via the Internet and then discovered with a little questioning of a half Italian foodie friend that pan-fried pasta seems to be an Italian comfort food. I prefer to call it sauteed pasta as the cooked pasta is not fried in very much fat and the technique is more sauteing than anything. This meal makes a great lunch or midweek dinner. Here is what I did for lunch (I did not have leftover pasta but wanted to try it so badly that I just made some):

Sauteed pasta with garlic and Romano cheese

Serves 1

• olive oil and butter (15 ml / 1 tablespoon of each)
• 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  
• About 100g of cooked pasta (I used Tagliatelle)
  
• chives, finely sliced (about 1 tablespoon)
• Finley grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese (for me about 45 ml /3 tablespoons)

Melt equal parts olive oil and butter in a medium hot saute pan. Saute garlic until golden brown. Remove from pan & reserve. Add pasta to heated pan and let sit in pan for 1 minute then turn, continue to do so until pasta is heated through and there are slightly browned bits and crunchy bits (I sound like Nigella!). Return garlic to pan and toss. Remove pan from heat. Plate pasta & season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Sprinkle with chives & cheese and enjoy.

Variations and notes:

• I am really passionate about garlic and you need a lot when cooking it as it can loose it's punch when heated, but if you times this recipe by 4, 10 cloves will be more than enough (instead of 20).
• I would serve this dish with a light salad and if you need more protein a grilled meat would go well.
• Another variation would be to saute some blanched asparagus in the place of the garlic and then remove it and add it back at the end of cooking with some finely grated lemon zest (leaving out the cheese and chives).
• This dish would also make a nice side dish.