Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil - Aglio e Olio

fork in a bowl of spaghetti with garlic and oil

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Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil - Aglio e Olio

Spaghetti with garlic and oil, aka spaghetti aglio e olio. Simple, quick, and delicious. This is my go-to pasta when I need a quick carb fix. The best part about this recipe is that you already have all the ingredients in your pantry and it only costs about $1.25.

Prep Time5

Cook Time12

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: small servings or 1 large single serving

Calories: 566kcal

Author: Abra Pappa, MS, CNS, LDN

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 oz dried spaghetti or Chitarra
3 cloves fresh garlic sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

Set a medium pot of water over med-high heat. Once water is boiling add enough salt that it tastes like the sea. (I use 2.5 teaspoons of kosher salt with 8 cups of water.) Add spaghetti and cook until just under al dente—approx 1 minute under the package instructions.
Finely chop 1/4 cup of parsley and set aside.
Slice 3 large cloves of garlic into 1/8 inch slices
Over medium heat add extra virgin olive oil to a large saute pan. Once warmed, add the sliced garlic and 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper.
Allow the garlic and red pepper to infuse and flavor the oil. Be careful not to let the garlic burn. Adjust the temperature as necessary. Cook until garlic turns translucent and then turn the heat to very low.
Tip!!! If you see the garlic start to turn golden, remove the pan from the heat. (If this happens before your pasta is ready to add to the pan, you will need to return the pan to the heat when the pasta goes in.) The goal is to time it so that as your garlic turns translucent or just starts to turn golden the pasta is ready to go into the pan. Better to have to reheat the oil than risk burning the garlic.
Once pasta has cooked, use tongs to add the pasta along with 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water to the pan with the hot garlic and oil mixture. The oil and water will start to boil fizz. Allow this reaction to happen while stirring/sautéing the pasta in the sauce to emulsify into a silky coating over all the pasta strands.
Add the 1/2 of the chopped parsley and continue to mix to incorporate.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining parsley and continue to mix to incorporate and coat the strands of pasta. If pasta is too dry,add an additional 1/8th cup of water at a time while mixing until it turn glassy and smooth again. Reference the second to last pic to get an idea of how saucy your mixture should be, at the bottom of a finished helping of this dish.
Serve immediately. Bon appetito!

Notes

Be sure to salt your pasta water. As a guideline, your pasta water should have enough salt in it that it tastes like the sea. Salting your water is your only opportunity to season the pasta before it goes into the sauce. It is important and makes a big difference. If you have been wondering why your home-cooked pasta never tastes as good as the pasta at the restaurant, this is likely the main reason.

Emulsify emulsify emulsify. This is the trick to taking this dish over the top. I have met so many people who could never understand why their aglio e olio never tasted like it did on that trip to Rome or at their favorite restaurant. When I learned they were taking drained pasta and adding it to a bowl of oil and (usually burned) garlic I understood why. Adding starchy pasta water to you oil and garlic mixture, along with the noodles is the key to building the sauce. The combination of heat, oil and starchy water creates a magic potion that coats every strand of spaghetti in a clingy garlicy elixir from the Italian gods.

Slice your garlic thicker than you think. We've all seen that scene in Goodfellas where Paulie cuts the garlic with a razor blade so it melts into the sauce. Don't do that! It's not going to work in this dish. Garlic cooked in hot oil goes from soft and sweet to burned and acrid in seconds. Once it's burned it's ruined the entire batch of oil with a burnt flavor. If this happens, start over.

No cheese needed. I know some people can't think of having pasta without some freshly-grated Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top. This is a case where less is more. There is already so much flavor on the plate that to add any more elements to the recipe is to diminish the perfection of its simplicity. Plus, the dry nature of the cheese tends to clump and get pasty in this preparation. Try it without the cheese.

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