Spaghetti aglio e olio – classic Italian dish

This is possibly one of the easiest pasta dishes out there; spaghetti aglio e olio. It uses only a handful of ingredients although I did add some heat by adding a red chili pepper.

Spaghetti aglio e olio

The two main components of this classic Italian dish is just the olive oil and garlic. You also need some parmesan cheese and I added chili to it. That is totally optional though and possibly not very traditional. Some of my favorite Italian pasta dishes are the ones without a massive amount of sauce. My former boyfriend found this pasta to be too dry. Which it really is not due to the olive oil, but yet it is lacking in sauce. So if you’re a sauce kind of person, skip this pasta.

If you’re however fond of bold flavors and delicious simple pasta? Stick around and try this spaghetti aglio e olio.

Spaghetti with garlic and oil

Quite literally translated aglio e olio means garlic and oil. Good name for a simple dish right? The one thing you do need to take some time for is to infuse the garlic into the olive oil. I do use extra virgin olive oil for this as it is such a key component to the dish. Slice about 6 cloves of garlic as thinly as possible and gently heat the olive oil with the garlic in a sauté pan or skillet.

Gently simmer

The garlic needs to gently simmer in the oil for at least ten minutes so you do not want the heat to be too high or the garlic will burn. And burned garlic becomes bitter making the oil bitter as well. So gentle is the key word here.

While the garlic oil is infusing you can cook your spaghetti al dente. I like to use spaghetti for this recipe, although I imagine it would work with other kinds of pasta as well. That said, spaghetti is definitely the preferred option so try it with that or a similar shape of pasta first. I can’t imagine eating this with penne for instance. That would just not be right.

Al dente

The pasta itself needs to be al dente. You don’t want it to overcook. Once the oil is done, you drain the pasta and save some of the cooking water, pour the hot garlic oil on top of the pasta and add a bit of the cooking water as well. You might think that is a lot of oil (and it is) but most of the oil will not stick to the pasta. It will just have a film of delicious garlic oil around the pasta strands. The cooking water will help make it into a delicious spaghetti aglio e olio.

More pasta recipes

If you’re a fan of pasta than also try these delicious versions too!

• Creamy pasta with gorgonzola
• Pasta with broccoli pesto
• Pasta primavera
• Vegan spaghetti bolognese
• Garlic spelt spaghetti

5 from 1 vote

Spaghetti aglio e olio

Prep time 12 minutes mins

Cooking time 12 minutes mins

Total time 24 minutes mins

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Servings4 people

Ingredients

• ▢ 300 gr spaghetti uncooked
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
• ▢ 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 red chili pepper or use red chili flakes if you have
• ▢ few sprigs of fresh parsley chopped finely
• ▢ freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ salt
• ▢ 50 g parmesan cheese grated, to taste

Cook Mode(keep screen on)

How to make the spaghetti aglio e olio

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with salt. Cook the spaghetti and stir every once in a while to make sure the strands are loose. Depending on your pasta type it will need to cook roughly between 10-12 minutes. Make sure the pasta is al dente. If you drain the pasta make sure to save some of the cooking water.
2. Slowly roast the garlic on medium heat in the olive oil. This will take about ten minutes if you do it properly. Put the garlic and oil in a cold pan together and reduce the heat when the olive oil begins to bubble a little bit. Cook and stir until the garlic is golden. Remove from heat.
3. If using chili flakes stir this through the pasta directly. When using fresh chili pepper, make sure it is cut very thinly and stir through the pasta. Pour the olive oil and the garlic on the pasta, add about a few tablespoons of the cooking water, sprinkle the parsley and half of the grated cheese on it as well and stir to combine.
4. Serve the pasta with the rest of the parmesan.

Author recipeAuthor: Simone

Nutrition Information per portion:

Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 207mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 205IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 1mg

Disclaimer:

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

Categories:

• Pasta
• Quick