Crispy seasoned pasta chips

An air-fryed or oven-baked snack the whole family will love!

I have yet to meet a kid – little or grown up – who doesn’t love these two things: pasta and crunchy snacks. So imagine the joy you could cause if you made beautifully-flavoured, crispy chips out of cooked pasta? This is such a fun and easy recipe and I can’t wait to surprise more people by dishing it up often. Note that if you don’t have an air fryer you can bake the chips in a 400F oven, on a parchment-lined baking tray, flipping them over after 6 minutes. They may take a few extra minutes versus air frying. If you’re a fan of crunchy things as I am, you might also like these salt and vinegar roasted chickpeas or these small-batch microwave potato chips. Also, I haven’t tried this yet, but I suspect these pasta chips would be excellent on top of soup or salad. This is the kind of food my family loves to eat while watching movies or sporting events on TV; they’re also huge fans of my totchos (tater tot nachos) and buffalo chicken meatballs.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (85 g) uncooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Few grinds kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2-3 teaspoons (10-15 mL) olive oil
• 1/4 cup (20 g) finely grated Parmesan cheese *
• Dipping sauce of choice (marinara , pizza sauce or my smoky tomato ketchup are all good)

*if your Parmesan is not very finely grated, place it on a cutting board and give it a good chop so the pieces become tiny; they’ll stick to the pasta much better.

Method

• Boil pasta in salted water per package directions, until al dente. Drain. Transfer to a large bowl.
• When pasta is just about cooked, pre-heat air fryer to 400F.
• In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, basil, oregano, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
• Drizzle cooked pasta with olive oil;toss gently. Sprinkle spices and Parmesan over top; toss again.
• Transfer seasoned pasta onto the air fryer crisping rack, taking care not to overcrowd and cooking in batches if needed, depending upon the size of your air fryer.
• The first batch will need to cook for 8-10 minutes, until dark golden brown but not burnt. Start checking on them every minute or so at the 7 minute mark. If your air fryer doesn’t have a crisping rack, you’ll need to flip them over at the 6 minute mark then cook for a few minutes longer.
• Transfer cooked pasta chips to a paper-towel lined plate, separating any that have stuck together. Let cool completely; they will crisp up further as they cool.
• Cook any remaining chips as needed. Note that subsequent batches will cook more quickly (6-8 minutes) as the air fryer will already be hot.
• Serve at room temperature, with a bowl of dipping sauce if desired.
• Chips can be made up to 24 hours in advance and stored in an airtight container.

Serves 2 as a snack; recipe can easily be multiplied.