If there’s only one thing that I would want to eat every time I go home to the province, it would be none other than the infamous Ilocos Longganisa. Nothing makes me feel like home more than those little nuggets of garlicky-porky goodness. The mother recently gave me a bunch and I took advantage of the rare abundance of a taste from home. I played around in the kitchen and came up with this a rather enjoyable dish.
PASTA AGLIO OLIO WITH ILOCOS LONGGANISA
Ingredients:
- Pasta, around 150 grams
- Salt and Cooking Oil (for boiling pasta)
- Ilocos Garlic Longganisa, 3 links, precooked and sliced thinly
- Olive Oil and a little butter for frying
- 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Fresh Basil leaves, 1 bunch, roughly chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Juice of half a small lemon
- Dried Chili Flakes, as much as you prefer
- Grated Cheddar Cheese, 1 tbsp
- Parmesan Cheese, for topping
Cooking Instructions:
- Cook pasta per package instructions.You may use whatever pasta you like – I had leftover wheat fusilli so used that.
- Boil a pot of water, put a few drops of oil and salt liberally. Boil pasta until al dente, depending on which pasta you’re using. Mine took around 8-10 minutes.
- When the pasta is al dente, turn off heat and drain. Run under cold water to prevent soggy pasta stop the cooking process then set aside.
- In a pan, heat around a tablespoon of Virgin Olive Oil and a little butter.
- When the butter starts to melt, put in sliced garlic and stir around until they turn slightly brown. Make sure your garlic does not burn.
- Put in the Ilocos Longganisa. I was using the precooked ones so it didn’t need a lot of time in the pan. If you’re using the fresh kind, just make sure they are thoroughly cooked before adding in your pasta.
- I like my food spicy so I added a sprinkle of dried chili peppers at this point.
- Put in your cooked pasta. Toss around so it is properly coated with oil and the sausage slices are properly distributed all throughout the pan.
- Season with salt and ground pepper to taste.
- I had some cheddar cheese in the fridge so I grated it and put it in as well, but this is totally optional.
- Squeeze half of a small lemon in. This adds a bit of freshness into the dish.
- Turn off heat, throw in your fresh basil and stir to let the leftover heat wilt the basil leaves.
- Finally, top with Parmesan cheese and a sprig of basil for garnish.
Enjoy! 🙂