The secret is in the pasta water...

I love watching other people cook. Why? Because I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS learning something new. For example, a while back, J, his boyfriend K, and I had a seafood boil (and yes, I'll get to this in another post). The seafood boil was incredible, but the leftovers - the water that was left behind from the boil was something else entirely. Not only was it flavoured from the herb and seasonings, it was also infused with the seafood we cooked in it (lobster, little neck clams and shrimp).

The flavour was so incredible it seemed a waste to throw the water out. So we froze it. And then we decided to cook pasta in it.

And let's just say that if I have a choice, I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, cook pasta in flavoured water. Why? Because as you are cooking the pasta, you are giving it flavour. And the water you cook it in can be anything - water from vegetables (lazy person's vegetable stock), store-bought soup stock, whatever. My point is that I realized the water you cook the pasta in can be just as important as the final sauce you put on it.

In this case, the flavours came from pickling spices (mustard seed, coriander, bay leaves, dill seed, fenugreek, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, red pepper, black pepper, cloves, soy, cottonseed oil,  and ground cayenne pepper).

After cooking the pasta to al dente (after all, what other way is there to cook it?), throw it into the sauce you've prepared.

In our case, it was minced garlic, cooked in olive oil with pancetta, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and topped with fresh basil. Mmmmm...

I have to admit, the first time I had this pasta, it was as a student. I observed and managed to recreate something that wasn't too shabby. Except I added shrimp.  Here's exactly what I did:

Ingredients

For cooking the pasta
- Soup stock
- Pasta (preferably something that is shaped to hold onto the water...I chose something with pockets)
- Teaspoon of oil (preferably olive oil)

For topping the pasta
- Olive oil
- Pancetta
- Minced garlic (as much or as little as you like)
- Pinch of salt and pepper (you won't need much since the pasta is already flavoured, and the pancetta is inherently salty)
- Cherry/grape tomatoes (halved)
- Uncooked shrimp (shelled and de-veined)
- Fresh basil leaves (chopped)

Instructions
For cooking the pasta
- Bring your stock to a boil
- Add the pasta and the oil (the oil keeps the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot)
- Bring back to a boil
- Let it simmer for about 8 minutes - STIR CONSTANTLY!

While the pasta is cooking...
For the sauce/topping
- In a pan, heat the olive oil until it sizzles
- Toss in the minced garlic (keep it moving so it doesn't burn)
- Turn the heat to medium and cook for 1-2 minutes
- Throw in the pancetta and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Add the shrimp and cook until it just turns pink (about 2-3 minutes)
- Add in the cherry tomatoes
- Cook for another 2 minutes
- Drain pasta and add to pan
- Toss and remove from heat
- Top with fresh basil leaves

Serve and enjoy (trust me, this is amazing).