Italian-Style Pasta with a Simple Garlic Sauce

I picked up the latest Bon Appetit issue (those magazines are like gold), and it describes a method of cooking pasta that I had never heard of before! Sad, because it was life-changing when I made it... If only I had known!!!  The silkiness... the flavor... the urge to say ciao... it's all too much.

Ingredients:

• Spaghettini or angel hair pasta
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil
• plenty of salt
• Fresh herbs (basil and oregano!), chopped

Directions:

1. Heat your pasta water, and throw in lots of salt into the water. Yes, a little more. A little more... a little more. Don't be shy with your salt! As soon as it starts to boil throw in your pasta.
2. Heat a large/deep non-stick skillet over medium heat and pour in a drizzle of olive oil and add the garlic. Put the heat on low and cover the pan with a lid, stirring occasionally. 
3. As soon as your pasta is roughly 2 minutes from being done to your likeness, use tongs to plop the pasta into the pan that is cooking your garlic. Add about 1/3 cup of the pasta water, and reserve the rest. Turn the heat to medium-high, and use the tongs to toss the pasta with the garlic sauce. Once it has boiled down and the sauce is thicker (and the pasta is done how you like it) turn off the heat and add in the fresh herbs. Toss with the tongs, and serve.

NOTE: This is the basic method - pasta in one pan, sauce ingredients in the other, use pasta water to thicken sauce... So that means you can saute anything and pour your pasta water on it... asparagus! tomatoes! squash! carrots! peas! mushrooms! sausage! shrimp! anything!Enjoy!