spaghetti with crispy zucchini.

So I may have found a new favourite pasta. 

enoteca sociale.

This past Wednesday, Lo, Gabbs and I had a hot date. 

With Lo's dad, Guy, that is. 

You see, he was visiting all the way from our hometown, Victoria, and we wanted to take him somewhere special for a meal (well really, it was him taking US out, but you catch my drift.) We'd heard great things about Enoteca Sociale, so we decided to head on down there for some Italian grub. 

poolside pasta.

Some of the best meals, luckily for those of us who don't love to spend hours in the kitchen, are the simple ones prepared with good ingredients. The Spaghetti Aglio e Olio my mom regularly cooks (from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook How Easy Is That? that I recently purchased for myself!) is one of the above. A bit of garlic, good olive oil, kosher salt, red pepper flakes, parsley and freshly grated parmesan and you have yourself a pasta that feels straight-outta-Italy in it's "I'm not trying hard but I still taste amazing" vibe. Don't mistake the simple preparation for simple flavour; meek, this pasta is not.

My parents recently had family friends over and served this poolside on a warm summer night. Our friend Sally brought a gorgeous salad of grilled seasonal veggies (heirloom tomatoes so sweet and flavourful I finally understood why they're classified as a fruit!) with balsamic, feta and paprika-dusted crème fraîche to complete the perfect al fresco meal - light, effortless, divine. Obviously, don't forget the wine!

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe can be found here!