Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

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5 from 1 vote

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 20

Calories: 897kcal

Servings: People

Metric - Imperial

Ingredients

300 g Spaghetti
80 ml High Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 Garlic Cloves Sliced
10 g Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
3 g Dried Chilli Flakes
250 ml Reserved Pasta Water
Salt & Pepper To Taste

Method

Bring a medium to large saucepan, half filled with water, to a boil. Add a big pinch of sea salt flakes and the spaghetti, and cook for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions.
Place a large pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is still cold, pour in the olive oil and add the garlic. Stir continuously until the garlic just starts to sizzle, then reduce the heat to low and sauté for 1-1 ½ minutes, just until the garlic shows the slightest hint of colour.
Add ½ cup (125ml) of the pasta water to stop the garlic from browning further and to form an emulsion. Simmer for 1 minute.
Once the spaghetti is cooked, transfer it directly from the pot into the pan, bringing a little more of the pasta water along with it. Cook for 1 minute, then turn off the heat.
With the pan still on the stovetop but off the heat, add the dried chilli flakes and parsley, and season with sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper. Mix thoroughly, serve, and dig in.

Chef's Tips

Keep the heat low when cooking the garlic — this is the easiest way to ruin the dish, since scorched garlic turns bitter and can't be fixed once it's gone too far.

Reserve pasta water before draining. The starch in it is what turns the oil and water into an actual sauce that coats the noodles, instead of just pooling at the bottom of the bowl.

Toss the spaghetti in the pan off the heat once it's glossy — carryover heat keeps cooking it, and overworking it on the stove can cause the sauce to split.

Storage & Reheating

Best eaten fresh — aglio e olio doesn't reheat well, as the oil-based sauce separates and the noodles dry out. If needed, it'll keep in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a pan with a splash of water or olive oil to loosen the sauce back up, though the texture won't be quite as good as fresh.

Calories 897kcalCarbohydrates 115.8gProtein 20.5gFat 39gSaturated Fat 5.5gPolyunsaturated Fat 4.79gMonounsaturated Fat 26.94gTrans Fat 0.1gSodium 102.1mgPotassium 417.3mgFiber 5.4gSugar 4.7gVitamin A 138.33IUVitamin C 7.73mgCalcium 61.1mgIron 5.7mg