Fill one large pan with water and bring it to a boil.

Add some salt ( about a tablespoon) to the water and add the pasta.

Set a timer as indicated on the label. If you are using non-Italian pasta, the cooking time will need to be reduced by 1-2 minutes

Give the pasta a good stir every now and then to release starches in the water

In a second pan, heat the olive oil on medium

Add the garlic to the oil and make sure it doesn’t burn, we want to flavour the oil. You can add parley stalk too if you do remove them before adding the pasta.

When there are about 2 minutes left on the timer, add 1 ladle of pasta water into the oil. Stir it. It will not combine at this point, that’s ok

If you opted to add chilli flakes, add them now.

When the timer is done, add the pasta to the other pan along with 1 ladle of pasta water.

Stir well, if you can toss the pasta in the pan

This is where things get tricky, you need to make sure your sauce is emulsified. Toss the pasta on one end of the pan and look at the sauce consistency. If it’s still very oily, add more water. If it looks all mixed up, almost a silky texture you are good to go!

Almost there !

Taste test the pasta, adjust the salt level

Plate and eat