Spaghetti Aglio e Olio Recipe

Classic Aglio e Olio is easy and quick to make with just few ingredients. Spaghetti Aglio Olio is a popular Italian meal which is mildly flavored yet tastes delicious. Aglio Olio is a popular Neapolitan cuisine and a treat for all spaghetti and garlic lovers. Learn to make Spaghetti Aglio Olio Recipe with step by step pictures and video.

Aglio Olio is an easy and quick pasta that can be made in just 20 minutes. Aglio e Olio the name sounds a bit new but it is nothing but just spaghetti tossed in garlicky olive oil.

Jump to:

• What is Aglio Olio?
• Aglio Olio Video
• Classic Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
• Aglio Olio Ingredients
• How to cook Aglio Olio Step by Step
• Expert Tips
• Variations
• FAQS
• 📖 Recipe Card

What is Aglio Olio?

Aglio Olio is a traditional Italian pasta dish made in just 20 minutes. Spaghetti Aglio e Olio translates to ‘spaghetti with garlic and oil’. A simple classic Aglio Olio uses just spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, peperoncini chili and required salt.  It is very popular because it is inexpensive and can be made with easily available ingredients in your kitchen.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is a classic pasta dish found in most menus of every restaurant in and around Italy, Rome, Naples etc. Try this simple and easy aglio e olio and I am sure you will be making it again and again.

Traditional Aglio Olio is made with fresh peperoncini (red hot chile peppers) which is widely available throughout Italy. But here and in other countries we don’t get it so the easy replacement for it is chili flakes.

Few years before the first few times I tried Aglio Olio the taste and flavor was good but felt the pasta was dry. Later after watching a TV show found that the key to a glossy aglio olio is to create an emulsion with garlic oil and to use pasta / spaghetti cooked starch water in the prepared sauce. These two steps make a huge difference so don’t skip it.

After heating olive oil, add garlic saute until golden then add chili flakes give a quick mix and add reserved pasta cooked water which emulsifies the garlicky olive oil and creates a gorgeous glossy sauce. After I learnt this simple tip there is no look back at all, I get tasty perfect aglio olio every time!

Aglio Olio Video

Classic Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Classic Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is made using just spaghetti, olive oil and garlic. Later the recipe was modified and peperoncini chili is added for heat and parsley, cracked black pepper for garnish. You can even add parmesan cheese for garnish.

To make classic spaghetti aglio e olio just follow these easy steps

1. Cook spaghetti – Cooking spaghetti is the first main step in perfecting aglio olio. Always cook spaghetti in a large pot of generously salty boiling water. You can cook spaghetti a minute more than al dente but I prefer to cook until done(fork tender). Reserve ½ cup of cooked pasta water.
2. Saute garlic – Heat olive oil add chopped garlic and saute until only till golden. Do not brown more as it changes the taste and flavor.
3. Prepare sauce – Once garlic is golden add chili give a quick mix then immediately add reserved hot starchy cooked pasta water along with required salt.
4. Toss spaghetti – Add cooked spaghetti and toss well until the sauce is well coated with spaghetti
5. Serve – Serve with a garnish of parsley and cracked black pepper. You can also add Parmesan cheese.

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Aglio Olio Ingredients

• Spaghetti – You can use any variety of noodle pasta or spaghetti. You can choose from  linguine, fettuccine, or any other shape of pasta noodle. You can also use whole wheat spaghetti or regular spaghetti as I have used here. But if you are trying aglio olio for the first time I would recommend using regular spaghetti then after you get the hang of cooking and tasting spaghetti you can try whole wheat variety.
• Olive oil – Olive is the of the main ingredient that gives flavor to this dish so use good quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Garlic – I love garlic flavor so much so usually add more. A lot of garlic can never go wrong in my opinion. But it is purely your preference, if you like add more else add only the mentioned amount.
• Chilli flakes – I used homemade chili flakes. You can use peperoncini which is traditionally used in aglio olio.
• Parsley – I have used fresh parsley but you can use dried parsley available easily in supermarkets if you can’t source fresh parsley.
• Garnish – I used freshly crushed black pepper for garnish too.

How to cook Aglio Olio Step by Step

Cook spaghetti

1. Boil a large pot with water along with salt.

2. Add 200 grams spaghetti.

3.Let it cook. You can follow pack instructions or cook until fork tender.

4.Once it is almost done reserve around 1/2 cup of spaghetti cooked water.

5.Cook until it is fork tender.

6.Drain water and set aside. Reserve the water in case if the spaghetti is dry you can add more while preparing the sauce.

Saute garlic

7.Add olive oil heat it up then add garlic.

8.Saute till just golden.

9.Then add chili flakes.

Prepare the sauce

10.Add reserved cooked spaghetti water.

11.Add required salt.

12.Cook for 2-3 mins until saucy.The starch in the cooked pasta water makes the sauce slightly thick.

Toss spaghetti

13.Add drained spaghetti.

14.Mix well.Use a tong for easy mixing.

Garnish

15.Add chopped fresh parsley and freshly cracked pepper.

16.Toss well until mixed evenly.

Season with pepper if you like and serve hot!

Expert Tips

• Always cook spaghetti in a large pot of salty water. Cook until aldente or a bit tender as per your preference. But make sure its nonsticky after cooking.
• While cooking spaghetti add little more salt than usual and don’t overcook the spaghetti.
• Take care not to burn garlic it should be fried only till golden.
• Adding other herbs may alter the taste so stick with basics & classics.
• Always add more salt while cooking spaghetti. Adjust salt accordingly while preparing the sauce.

Variations

• You can add mushroom, chicken or any other vegetable of your choice. Saute mushroom or cook chicken first set aside. Finally while tossing spaghetti you can add chicken or mushroom and mix well.
• If you don’t have fresh parsley then add dried parsley. You can also add coriander leaves if you don’t parsley.
• If you like it spicy add more red chilli flakes.

FAQS

1.What does aglio olio mean? Why it is called so?

Aglio olio means garlic and olive in Italian. This dish is made by tossing cooked spaghetti in garlicy chilli olive oil

2.I don’t have olive oil. Can I make Aglio Olio?

Olive oil is the main ingredient that flavors aglio olio so I would recommend to use it,. But still if you prefer to make aglio without it then use regular cooking itself though the flavour and taste might widely differ.

3.I do not have chili flakes. What is the alternate?

It takes just few minutes to make chili flakes at home. You can just dry roast few red chilies for few seconds until crisp. Cool down then pulse it in a dry mixer jar and your chilli flakes is ready. Detailed video and recipe here.

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