Pasta aglio e olio
Tom likes to have his pasta with a lot of sauce. Red sauce, white sauce, that is not important, as long as it’s pretty wet. I, on the other hand, can enjoy a pasta with the minimum of ingredients. My absolute favorite is still a pasta dish that I had in Tuscany in a small bistro. It as pici ( a kind of thick spaghetti ) with black pepper and pecorino. Nothing more, nothing less. But it was so incredibly delicious! Ofcourse I like a good bolognese too, but this pasta is definitely one of my favorites. There are many variations to the theme but in it’s most basic form it is simply pasta with garlic and olive oil.
This version has a bit more spice to it due to the red pepper and some more color because of the parsley. It is ofcourse eaten with parmesan cheese.
Spaghetti aglio e olio
Ingredients
- 500 gr uncooked spaghetti
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup good 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
- parmezan cheese grated, to taste
Instructions
- 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 strand are loose. Depending on your pasta type it will need to cook roughly between 10-12 minutes. Make sure the pasta is al dente.
- 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.
- 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, sprinkle the parsley and half of the grated cheese on it as well and stir to combine.
- Serve the pasta with the rest of the parmesan.
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.

Funny how sometimes the simplest of ingredients and flavours can have the most impact. It looks utterly beautiful!
Janie x
Isn’t that amazing? I guess the ingredients get a better chance to shine if they’re not overcrowded.. π
I like all kind of pasta but this one I love it!! Nice photos!
Thanks so much Eva!
One of my favorite quick pasta dishes! Loads and loads of flavor, and so easy to make. Good stuff – thanks.
That is so pretty but I will admit that I’m on Tom’s team on this one. π
Hahaha… Well i guess it’s probably good that tastes vary right? π
love this pasta! can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Alice!
I make similar pasta using fresh chili and lots of garlic and parsley as well. It’s simple yet so satisfying!
Exactly and a good pasta doesn’t really need all that much either…:)