Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

The simplest, most satisfying pasta — garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, and parsley. Roman pantry cooking at its finest.

🍴 Yield 2 servings ✋ Prep 5 min 🔥 Cook 15 min ⏰ Total 20 min
pastaitalianquickweeknight
Units

What You'll Need

Ingredients

  • 200 g spaghetti
  • 240 ml pasta water
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 15 g fresh parsley
  • 30 g Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • fine sea salt
  • black pepper

Cookware

  • pot
  • skillet

Instructions

Cook the pasta

1

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously. Cook spaghetti until 1 minute shy of al dente (check the package time and subtract one). Reserve pasta water (about 1 cup) before draining.

Build the sauce

1

While the pasta cooks, slice garlic thinly. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and red chili flakes. Cook gently for 3 minutes to 4 minutes, stirring often — the garlic should turn pale gold, not brown. If it starts to color too fast, pull the pan off heat.

Combine

1

Add the drained pasta directly to the skillet. Add about half the reserved pasta water. Toss vigorously over medium heat for 2 minutes until the sauce is glossy and clings to the noodles. Add more pasta water a splash at a time if it looks dry.

Finish

1

Remove from heat. Add fresh parsley (roughly chopped) and Parmigiano-Reggiano (finely grated, optional — purists skip this). Toss once more. Season with fine sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Notes

1

The pasta water is the key. It's starchy and salty and emulsifies with the oil to create a silky sauce. Don't skip reserving it.

2

Real aglio e olio has no cheese. Adding Parmigiano is great but not traditional — your call.

3

Use good olive oil here. It's basically a main ingredient, not just cooking fat.