What's going on guys this is going to be the last video in this house which is kind of sad to be honest but we're moving on to bigger and better things now with the new house having the most incredible kitchen and I can't wait to show it to you. For this recipe we're going to keep it short and simple because most of the stuff is already at the house so let's make a creamy cheesy pasta that requires only a few simple ingredients and tastes absolutely incredible. Please sit back, relax and enjoy. Alright guys, let's start this off by placing a large saucepan of water onto our stovetop over a high heat, heavily season with sea salt flakes and then bring this to a boil.
Now whilst we're waiting for that... get yourself 6 cloves of freshly peeled garlic to which we can run along a fine microplane or grater to create a paste which is also known as minced, making sure to scrape it all out there to avoid wasting any of this good stuff. Next we're going to need 60g or 2.1 oz of Grana Padano cheese or Parmigiano Reggiano, also running it along a fine microplane or grater.
It's best to use fresh cheeses for dishes like this rather than the already grated store bought stuff due to the fact that the mass produced grated cheeses contain potato starch to keep it from clumping up, and if we were to use it in a dish like this the starch will cause our sauce to potentially clump and split. The last bit of prep for this dish is 5g or 0.2oz of flat leaf parsley and with this scrunch it into a tight bunch to make it easier to work with and then come through with a sharp knife and give it a rough chop. I will say that this is optional so you don't have to use it and it can also be substituted for basil if you wanted to change it up.
Now once our water is boiling add in 500g or 1.1lbs of the pasta of your choice which in my case I'm using shells. Give this a quick mix so it doesn't stick together and cook for 1 minute less than what it states on your packet instructions. Straight after that place a large pan onto your stovetop over a high heat and whilst still cold add in 1 tablespoon or 14g of unsalted butter along with 1 teaspoon or 5ml of olive oil which will help prevent the butter from burning then give it a quick mix around to quickly melt the butter. Once it's melted add in the minced garlic we prepared before and whilst mixing around the whole time to prevent it from burning, saute for 40 seconds. The reason that we add it in cold is that the garlic can slowly infuse into the butter and oil, giving us a better overall flavour in the sauce.
40 seconds later, pour in 80ml or 1 third of a cup of chicken or vegetable stock to deglaze and add a great depth of flavour, give it a good mix around and allow it to start boiling, which should only take about 20 seconds or so. Next, pour in 400ml or 13.5 fluid ounces of heavy thickened cream, which is going to be the base of our sauce, Season with 1 teaspoon or 5 grams of sea salt flakes and hit this up with 10 cracks of black pepper but always season to your taste. This can now be given a big stir through to combine the ingredients and while still over a high heat bring the cream to a boil and as soon as that's achieved reduce the heat to low and gently simmer the sauce for 6 to 7 minutes or until reduced and thickened giving it a stir every now and again. Okay so this has now been 7 minutes and the sauce has thickened up and reduced roughly by one quarter which is exactly what we want. Let's then add in 120g or 4.2oz of washed baby spinach which is optional if you prefer not to use it and then mix this through the cream sauce to start wilting it down.
Right about now the pasta will be ready which is cooked 1 minute less than what your packet instructions say, this can then be directly transferred into the sauce using a kitchen spider or slotted spoon to drain off any excess water but don't worry too much if you do bring over some of that pasta water because the starch that's now in it will help the sauce stick to the pasta. It's also a good idea to scoop out a small amount of the pasta water too, just in case you prefer a thinner sauce. To this now, we can add in the freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, whichever one you chose to use, then give this a really good mix through, allowing those flavours to become friends, and allow this to simmer for 1.5-2 minutes to finish cooking the pasta and for the cheese to melt through, giving us a delicious, creamy garlic cheesy sauce.
Also give it a stir every 30 seconds or so. Towards the end, quickly check the sauce for seasoning, adjusting if necessary with sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper and for this recipe the pepper really does complement the sauce so I recommend adding in at least an extra 20 cracks. Once the adjustments have been made give it one last mix through for the seasoning to do its thing.
You can also add in some of that pasta water as well at this stage if you'd like to thin the sauce down and this can then be removed from the stovetop. As for serving this up because I've used shells the pasta won't stand up like spaghetti so I recommend using a bowl and obviously add as much or as little as you'd like. grate over some more grana padano or parmigiano reggiano for a nice cheesy topping, again using as much or as little as you'd like or don't even add it if you don't want to, then garnish this with the flat leaf parsley or basil that is optional, hit this up with even more cracked black pepper for a nice pop of flavour, then drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil for that finishing touch, leaving us with this beautiful and delicious creamy garlic cheesy pasta that took no time at all and best of all, it's extremely easy to make.
The only thing left to do now is make this all worthwhile. and that is we can then Dig in! So there we have it, this recipe right here serves three to four people and like most of my recipes it can easily be double, tripled and so on or halved if you wanted to make less. To store it you can place it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days and because it's a cream based sauce I really don't recommend freezing it just because once it's been defrosted that sauce will more than likely split. To reheat it you can place it back in a pan over a medium heat and just gently heat it up nice and slowly adding in a splash of cream to get things moving around again or you can place it in the microwave just do whatever is easiest for you.
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