Spaghetti With Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon red hot red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1 (750 ml) bottle light red wine (like Chianti Classico or a good red Zinfandel...a quality wine, but not necessarily expensive)
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. 1

   Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put the oil, garlic and hot pepper in a large, deep skillet.

2. 2

   When the water boils, add the pasta; turn the heat under the skillet to high. Cook the pasta as usual, stirring. As soon as the garlic begins to brown, sprinkle it with salt and pepper to taste and add three-quarters of the bottle of wine (a little more than two cups); bring to a boil and keep it there.

3. 3

   When the pasta beings to bend--after less than five minutes of cooking--drain it and add it to the wine mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, adding wine a little at a time if the mixture threatens to dry out completely.

4. 4

   Taste the pasta frequently. When it is done--tender but with a little bite--stir in the butter and turn off the heat. When the butter glazes the pasta, serve it immediately.