Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, which translates to Spaghetti with garlic and oil, is a traditional Italian dish with origins from Naples. It is one of the simplest pasta dishes and made from inexpensive ingredients.
Preparing the ingredients
Begin by thinly slicing the 4 garlic cloves and set aside.
Now bring a pot of water to boil, and add a generous pinch of salt. Add the dry spaghetti and cook till al dente for about 10-12 minutes. As there is no ‘sauce’ in this dish, make sure the spaghetti is sufficiently salted at this stage.
In a shallow pan, heat the 5 tbsp of olive oil over a low heat and add the sliced garlic. Next, add a pinch of salt to the garlic and then throw in the red chili flakes. The garlic should be sizzling very lightly, and toss occasionally till they are pale gold, but do not let it brown. Keep watching and it might take a few tries to get the garlic right!
Do not try to cut back on the olive oil at this stage as it will be required to coat the spaghetti sufficiently.
Tossing the spaghetti aglio olio
Once the pasta is cooked, toss directly into the garlic, chili, oil mixture. Mix well and allow the garlic oil mixture to coat each spaghetti strand. You do not need to strain the spaghetti using a strainer as some of the starch water will combine with the hot olive oil to help it coat the spaghetti better, forming this glistening look!
Garnish with some parsley, toss a little more and serve immediately.
Check out our Baked Salmon with Herbs recipe as shown above, or classic Italian Carbonara as well!
Classic Italian Aglio e Olio
Ingredients
- 180 g dry spaghetti
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red chili flakes (optional – reduce if you want it less/ not spicy)
- 1 tsp chopped parsley (fresh or dried) for garnishing
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by thinly slicing the 4 garlic cloves and set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boil, and add a pinch of salt. Add the dry spaghetti and cook till al dente (about 10-12 minutes). Follow instructions on packet for best results.
- In a pan, heat the olive oil over a small fire/heat and add the sliced garlic. Add a pinch of salt and the red chili flakes. The garlic should be sizzling very lightly, and toss occasionally to ensure they don't burn.
- Once the pasta is cooked, toss directly into the garlic, chili, oil mixture. Mix well and allow the pasta to be well coated.
- Garnish with some parsley and serve!