A viral 40 clove garlic pasta recipe has taken the internet by storm, and it only needs a minor change to make it a must-use recipe, with members of the public thrilled by the results
A viral 40 clove garlic pasta has swept across the internet, and it requires just a small tweak to become an essential recipe. Posting on X and sharing the method with the public, Madeline put the 40 garlic cloves to the test after buying the mountain of garlic bulbs required for the dish. The initial stage wasn’t about adding ingredients but getting them ready, especially peeling and shelling those 40 garlic cloves.
This was followed by dropping all the prepared cloves into boiling water. Those forty bulbs of garlic were then tossed into a pan, with both the recipe preparation and final outcome becoming an internet sensation. Whilst it might appear to be an overwhelming quantity of garlic for a single meal, anyone who’s prepared it previously will confirm it’s the most crucial element of the preparation.
Madeline revealed she made some small adjustments whilst creating the recipe, including adding an additional quarter cup of oil to the suggested quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil.
The recipe also calls for 450g of rigatoni pasta, a tin of crushed tomatoes, half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and 40 garlic cloves.
During her recipe preparation, Madeline offered a useful trick for anyone wanting to recreate it but couldn’t tolerate the garlic aroma.
She explained: “The nice thing about this is the lid is on for most of the cooking so the smell is contained and then I open it to stir and it’s a blast to the sinuses, but like, it is beginning to tamp down a bit as it cooks.”
She went on to say: “Tomatoes are in! And with all due respect, what is the actual point of a quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes.”
Despite her reservations, the final dish was top-notch and worth repeating, albeit with a slight tweak.
Madeline confirmed: “The garlic is not the problem here, would make again but with some other adaptations.”
It seems the tomatoes and spice levels are in need of adjustment. In a previous post, Madeline hinted that precise measurements are for baking, not cooking, suggesting a more relaxed approach when it comes to seasoning.
Another modification involved upping the quantity of chopped tomatoes. While the recipe asked for just one tin, Madeline opted for two, totalling 800g.
The public were delighted by the recipe and eager to give it a go. One quipped: “Do you reckon the garlic will be a noticeable part of the flavour profile?”
The most significant revelation that some are only just catching onto is that the recipe calls for 40 bulbs of garlic, not 40 cloves. Typically, a bulb of garlic contains between 10 to 12 cloves. The final count from Madeline for her recipe is 417 cloves.