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Spaghetti aglio e olio is the Roman midnight pasta - the meal you make at 1am when you have come home hungry from a long evening out and have nothing in the house except a packet of spaghetti, a head of garlic, a bottle of good olive oil, some chili, and a bunch of parsley. It requires precisely six ingredients and no more than 15 minutes, and yet it is one of the most satisfying pasta dishes in the Italian canon. The trick is in the technique: the garlic is sliced thinly and cooked in a generous amount of olive oil over very low heat until it turns pale gold and sweet - not burned, which would make it bitter - and the chili is added to infuse the oil before the starchy pasta water creates a light emulsification. It is a study in how simplicity, executed perfectly, is more compelling than complexity executed badly.
Prep
5 min
Cook
15 min
Total
20 min
Servings
4 srv
Difficulty
Easy
Calories
450 kcal
For 4 serving(s)
Per serving
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti until just al dente. Reserve at least 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
While the pasta cooks, peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over very low heat.
Add the sliced garlic to the cold oil, then gently heat together. Cook over the lowest possible heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is pale gold and sweet. Watch carefully - it must not burn.
Add the chili flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove the pan from the heat.
Drain the spaghetti and add it directly to the garlic oil pan over medium heat. Toss energetically, adding pasta water a splash at a time, until the sauce becomes slightly emulsified and glossy and coats every strand of pasta.
Remove from heat, add the chopped fresh parsley, season with salt and pepper, and toss once more.
Serve immediately in warm bowls. No cheese - this dish needs nothing more.
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