Tossed in a garlic-and-chili-infused olive oil and shiso leaves, this Japanese-style Shiso
Garlic Pasta is super easy, utterly delicious, and ready in 15 mins!

Shiso Garlic Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt) (for cooking pasta)
• 7 oz spaghetti (200 g)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 dried red chili pepper
• 15-20 leaves Shiso leaves (Ooba)
• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (¼ cup, 60 ml)
• ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt)
• 2 Tbsp reserved pasta water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Gather all the ingredients.
   

To Cook Spaghetti

1. Start boiling 4 quarts (16 cups, 3.8 L) water in a large pot (I used a 4.5 QT Dutch oven). Once boiling, add salt and spaghetti.
2. Stir to make sure spaghetti doesn’t stick to each other. Tip: I usually reduce the cooking time by 1 minute if I have to continue cooking the pasta afterward. Drain if you finish cooking the spaghetti first, but you should be able to cook the rest of the ingredients in 10 minutes while spaghetti is being cooked.

To Prepare Ingredients

1. While cooking pasta, we prepare the ingredients. Peel the garlic cloves and thinly slice them.
2. Cut off the end of the dried red chili pepper and discard the seeds. If you like the dish to be spicy, you can add some seeds. I usually remove most of the seeds. Cut the chili into small pieces.
3. Wash the shiso leaves (or another herb you may use) and dry them completely with a paper towel or kitchen towel. Cut off the stem and roll them up.
4. Cut into thinly slices (chiffonade) and then mince them.

To Cook Shiso Garlic Pasta

1. With 5 minutes left until the spaghetti is ready, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Before the oil gets hot, add in the garlic to start infusing. Make sure to coat the garlic with oil.
2. When the garlic is sizzling and well-coated with oil, add the red chili pepper and salt. Shake the pan and make sure the oil is infused with garlic and pepper.
3. When the spaghetti is done cooking, pick up the noodles with a pair of tongs (or you can quickly drain in the sink) and add to the pan.
4. Reserve 2 Tbsp of pasta water and add to the pan.
5. Add the chopped shiso leaves (or the herb you choose) and season the spaghetti with freshly ground pepper. Taste and season with salt if needed. The reserved pasta water I added has enough salt so I do not add additional salt here.
6. Toss the spaghetti with a pair of tongs to mix all together and serve. Enjoy!

https://www.justonecookbook.com/shiso-garlic-pasta/