Midnight Pasta

Ingredients

100g spaghetti
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped (or ½ tsp chilli flakes)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Parmesan, grated (optional, for serving)
Salt

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to packet directions until al dente, about 8–10 minutes.
While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large frying pan over low-medium heat. Add sliced garlic and cook gently, stirring often, until it turns pale gold and fragrant — about 3 minutes. Do not let it brown or it will taste bitter.
Add chilli to the garlic oil and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Remove pan from heat.
When pasta is ready, reserve ½ cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti.
Return the garlic oil pan to medium heat. Add the drained spaghetti and toss to coat in the oil. Add 2–3 tablespoons of pasta water and toss vigorously to emulsify the oil and water into a light sauce that clings to the pasta.
Remove from heat, toss through chopped parsley, and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately in a shallow bowl, topped with grated Parmesan if desired.

Nutrition (per serve)

520 Calories

15g Protein

65g Carbs

22g Fat

The Story

This is what you cook when you've been in the darkroom too long and forgot to eat. It's 1am. The red safelight is the only illumination. Your hands smell like fixer. You need food, but you also need simplicity. Aglio e olio is the answer: garlic, oil, chilli, pasta. Nothing more. It's a contact print — direct transfer, no enlargement, no manipulation.

The trick is the garlic. You want it to release flavour into the oil without burning. Low heat, constant attention. Same principle as dodging and burning in the darkroom — you're controlling exposure in real time. Too much heat and the garlic goes bitter, the image is ruined. Just right and it turns sweet, nutty, golden. The chilli adds contrast. The pasta water emulsifies the oil into a sauce. It's chemistry.

You eat it standing at the bench, straight from the pan. It's fuel. It's also one of the best things you'll taste all week, because hunger is the best seasoning and solitude sharpens flavour. The darkroom teaches you to work alone. Midnight pasta is the same discipline: self-reliance, precision, no room for error.