Spaghetti Aglio E Olio is a classic Italian pasta dish which simply means spaghetti in garlic and olive oil and that’s it! It’s a real wonder and you will know why!
Today I dare to bring to you a classic Italian pasta dish that is spaghetti Aglio E Olio. I say dare because being an in Indian, I am not sure if I have enough knowledge to make this classic dish in the most classic way!
Thanks to YouTube, we could learn the classics from all over the world and since I trust all my favorite YouTubers, I am pretty sure that my version of Spaghetti Aglio E Olio is very close to the classic one! Even if it is not, it is still pretty amazing!
Who could have ever imagined that such a simple pasta dish as this spaghetti Aglio E Olio could so mind-blowing! Hailing from a non-pasta eating nation, me and my hub are generally inclined to those pasta dishes which are full of meat and cheese.
When I first discovered this spaghetti Aglio E Olio, I wasn’t sure if we would like it as it doesn’t have anything other than garlic and olive oil. So, it was at a lower rank in my priority list and I wasn’t even thinking of it.
But somehow somewhere inside my little brain it was sleeping silently; so, when we got tons of fresh large garlics from Ooty, this one started poking me. Finally, I made this spaghetti Aglio E Olio as I desperately wanted to know how this ‘so-simple’ pasta dish would actually taste!
I really want to thank all the Italians for discovering this unbelievable thing called spaghetti Aglio E Olio! Trust me I can’t thank you guys enough! We got so much awestruck with this pasta dish that I made it two days in a row for dinner!
Being Indian and loving all spicy Indian food, I never thought this spaghetti Aglio E Olio will win us over so badly. Leave alone me as I am already an established pasta-lover, my hubby got so hooked to it that it became his all-time favorite pasta dish ever and am not kidding! A meatless pasta is my hub’s favorite and that’s just unbelievable!
Guys, if you haven’t ever had spaghetti Aglio E Olio yet then let me tell you that you are missing out a lot in your life! This is that pasta dish which you have to bring to your table and keep it for good. As I am writing, I am starting to crave for this garlicy-oil-infused pasta even more than before.
This garlic thing is like a showstopper in this pasta dish. Garlic has always been my most favorite aromatic, but after tasting this spaghetti Aglio E Olio, my love and respect for garlic has magnified to an unmatched extent and I doubt if anything else could ever touch that height!
As I learned, spaghetti Aglio E Olio is nothing but spaghetti in garlic and olive oil. And you will need serious garlic and serious olive oil. Don’t get panicked. By serious garlic, I mean a pretty good amount of garlic and you will get a good idea once you watch the video down below.
Along with the fresh good quality garlic, you will also need a very good quality olive oil as you will need quite a large amount of oil in this spaghetti Aglio E Olio. So, use the best you can find.
If you are being a bit skeptical about the amount of oil being added to the pasta, then I must refrain you because firstly, olive oil is not that harmful to health if you get a good quality one and secondly, this pasta will make 2 servings which means the oil will be divided by two and hence it won’t be too much for a single person.
Since this pasta just has olive oil and garlic in it, all the flavors will be derived from only these two ingredients; so, you got to be a bit generous this time. Trust me this spaghetti Aglio E Olio is hell of a pasta dish and once you try it you can’t ever go back from it!
- Spaghetti – 200 gms
- Olive oil – ½ cup
- Garlic – 20 cloves
- Red chili flakes – 1 tsp
- Parmesan cheese – ½ cup, grated
- Fresh parsley to garnish
- Cook the spaghetti in heavily salted boiling water as per the package instructions until al-dente i.e. cooked but still retain some bite.
- Reserve about a cup of the pasta boiling water and drain the spaghetti but DO NOT rinse the spaghetti. Put the drained spaghetti back to the pasta pot after discarding the water. Set aside.
- Slice each garlic cloves into thin chips. You will need a lot of garlic, so be a little patient here and slice them, DO NOT chop them.
- Take a dry skillet, but do not put it on heat yet. Pour half a cup of olive oil (Yes! I know it’s lot of olive oil!) into the cold pan and add the sliced garlic to it.
- Now put the skillet on medium heat and let the olive oil heat up slowly along with the garlic allowing the oil to be infused with the garlic flavor. Do not change this step as otherwise if you put sliced garlic into hot oil, it will brown too quickly without infusing the olive oil with garlicy flavor.
- Keep stirring the garlic slices slowing and let them turn golden brown evenly. This step would take good 8-10 minutes, so please be patient if you want the mind-blowing spaghetti Agilo E Olio. The beauty of the dish is this strong garlic flavored olive oil.
- Once the garlic slices have turned golden brown, sprinkle the red chili flake to the oil. Mix well.
- Now pour all this flavorful oil over the cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese on top.
- Using a tong, mix the spaghetti well with the oil and cheese. Check and adjust for seasoning if needed.
- Serve the warm spaghetti Aglio E Olio garnishing with some chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Sometimes simple is best. Now is one of those times. This looks SO good! As a side or a main dish, I could eat this every day!
I can’t agree more with you Karly! This simple pasta has proved to be a real surprise! We fell in love with it so badly!
I LOVE pasta! And this looks amazing!!
Thanks! Am glad you liked it!