Five Garlic Pasta. Yes, I said FIVE.

I love garlic. Luckily, so does my husband. One of his favorite dishes is my Three Garlic Pasta, adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe from ages ago (seriously, I've been making it for years). I recently decided to kick it up a notch to five garlics. Mission: blow hubby's mind. 

I decided to take the original three garlics -- roasted, toasted and sautéed -- and add raw garlic, as well as garlic scapes. That makes five. In your face, Martha!

As a born-and-bred city girl, I never had a garden; as soon as we moved to the 'burbs I knew I had to plant some garlic! Scapes are the lovely, curly tops of the garlic plant and have a wonderful, mild garlic flavor. You can find scapes at farmer's markets, although the season will be over soon, at least in my neck of the woods; if you don't have access to scapes, just make Four Garlic Pasta!

Graceful and garlicky!

Ingredients

serves about 6

• 2 heads garlic
• 1 pound cappellini (or other long pasta)
• 3T extra virgin olive oil
• 1c chopped garlic scapes
• 1c dry white wine (if I don't have an open bottle, I use vegetable or chicken stock)
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1T red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• shaved parmesan cheese, optional

Roast one head of garlic. You can cut the whole head and bake it (per Martha's recipe); somehow I tend to lose too much of the flesh when I cut across the whole head. So, I like to break up the head into separate cloves, drizzle with a teaspoon or so of EVOO and bake in foil for about 45 minutes at 425 degrees.

Let cool and squeeze the flesh out of the papery skin. The cloves should be tender and golden.

Mash them with the oil in which they were roasted. That oil is precious!

While the garlic is roasting, chop half a head of garlic (setting aside one or two tablespoons)...

and slice the other half of the head.

Chop those scapes, while you're at it.

Heat about 2T of the EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and toast until lightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan with a fork or slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel (as you would bacon).

My husband requested a bag of garlic chips for our upcoming road trip to Sesame Place. The man is hooked!

Add chopped garlic -- minus the one or two tablespoons you reserved -- and scapes to the pan. Sauté until garlic is translucent and tender. In the meantime, start cooking your pasta (I like to use angel hair, which takes just a few minutes; if you're using a different pasta, plan accordingly).

Pour in the wine or stock and simmer for a few minutes. Whisk in the roasted garlic. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper. Just before draining pasta, take a ladleful (or two) of the pasta water and add to the garlic and wine sauce.

Drain the pasta but do not rinse. Add it to the skillet, throw in the parsley and raw garlic and toss until well-coated in the sauce. Drizzle with a bit more EVOO and sprinkle the garlic chips and some shaved parmesan (if you're using it) on top. If you like a little more heat, add a touch more red pepper flakes.

Get ready to enjoy a garlicky gastronomic delight! And don't forget to pop some mints before you do any smooching...