Aglio olio is one of the easiest dishes to make, but precisely because of its simplicity, it’s difficult to make it taste good.

First, I boiled some pasta in salt water peppered with good dose of dill weed. As Jamie Oliver often says, boiling pasta without salt will make the pasta taste like thin air. Don’t worry about consuming too much salt here unless you’re thinking of drinking the whole pot of salt water.

The other ingredients include diced bell pepper or capsicum. To add some spiciness to it, I’ve also chopped up one chilli padi. Since it’s Christmas, I used three colours of capsicum – green, red and yellow. I also had some shelled shrimp which I pre-cooked by dipping in the boiling pasta.

Garlic is an important ingredient in every aglio olio. Here, I’m frying some minced garlic in olive oil until just before they turn brown. It’s important not to brown the garlic too much.

Once the garlic is ready, I tossed in the diced capsicum and shrimp. Once the capsicum starts to give off that chilli like aroma, toss in the cooked pasta. You can leave out the chilli padi if you don’t want it spicy, but aglio olio normally packs a punch.

Mix it around to make sure that the pasta has soaked up the oil and we’re ready. It’s as simple as that. Do try this at home. I’m sure your kids will love it.