Sluttishly Savoury: 10 Minute Garlic Pasta

Whenever it gets to 8pm and suddenly we realise not only haven't we thought about dinner yet but we are also starving, this is the dish I make. Actually, I probably make variations of it about 3 times a week!

This is without doubt my all time favourite pasta recipe and the fact that it can be made from scratch in 10 minutes makes it all the better! Garlic powder is one of my kitchen cupboard essentials, it's deceptively strong though so go easy with it (unless you are garlic fiend like me in which case go crazy!). Using the freshest eggs is really important and as the egg yolks are only barely cooked by the heat of the pasta it's best avoided if you are pregnant (just use a touch of cream instead).

You'll need: (serves 2 or 1 lovely big portion!)

• 250g pasta
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 50g Grana Padano cheese finely grated (packets of freshly grated work fine)
• pinch chilli flakes
• sea salt flakes
• freshly found black pepper
• baby spinach leaves (about a handful but you can use a lot more)

Make it!

1. Cook your pasta in salted water until al dente. Whilst this is happening mix the remaining ingredients (except the spinach) in a bowl large enough to contain the pasta too.
2. When the pasta is ready take about 4 tablespoons of the pasta water and add to the egg mixture, give it a good mix. 
3. The moment before you drain the pasta add the spinach leaves (they take seconds to cook) then drain everything into a colander before adding it to the egg mixture and stirring gently to coat.

Tip:

Swap the spinach for purple sprouting broccoli, just add to the pasta pan 2 minutes before to give it a bit of extra cooking time. Lots of supermarkets now sell jars of Umami paste, a teaspoon added to your egg mix is fantastic and adds an extra layer of deliciousness to the dish.