Aglio e olio is so tasty! And so quick and simple! Let the pasta cook while you prepare the sauce. Here we have the traditional go-to version of this garlic and olive oil pasta, plus our favorite variation from a little osteria in the hills of Tuscany.
Aglio e olio, pasta tossed with garlic and olive oil, is simplicity itself. But it does have to be prepared with care. The secret is to gently fry the garlic to caramelize the sugars. Once you master this, aglio e olio is a dish you make your own. And from there, the skies the limit in the variation of easy pasta meals you can make with aglio e olio as your base.
Pasta with Rubies beet pasta and Broccoli Pasta and Spaghetti alla Bottarga are just a few of the many easy and quick pasta dishes that start as aglio e olio.
About Aglio e Olio
There are times you cook aglio e olio for no other reason than craving it. But its specialty is really its simplicity and tasty last minute appeal. Aglio e olio is absolutely perfect for an impromptu get together — the quintessential spaghettata di mezzanotte, or midnight spaghetti, favored after the theatre, opera, a late movie, concert… Whip it up for company that you invited little more than two seconds ago. Of course, it can also be a quick hot lunch or dinner. Or … when you have no idea what to cook and you don’t feel like thinking, going out or ordering in, have nothing in your cabinets, no ideas… Wait! A few cloves of garlic are in the house, and some spaghetti. Meal! In around 15 minutes.
Here I share how to make the best traditional Italian spaghetti aglio e olio that you can on the fly, plus I share with you one of the most delicious versions of aglio olio I’ve had, by a chef who after cooking in Michelin star kitchens opened up a tiny osteria down the street from where we lived in Tuscany. It is an aglio olio upgrade fit for even a dinner party.
Ingredients
Part of the appeal of aglio e olio is the ease of keeping garlic, oil and spaghetti on hand. Plus a hit of chili pepper, and a pretty garnish of Italian parsley, if you like.
- Pasta – Spaghetti is frequently the pasta of choice for aglio e olio. Mainly because it is in stock. I recommend thin spaghetti. It’s more elegant. Nothing too thin though, such as angel hair, since very thin spaghetti requires more oil and more careful cooking so that it doesn’t stick together. Linguine works well. So does fresh pasta, by the way, for a fantastic aglio e olio upgrade.
- Garlic – Aglio – Choose as fresh as you can find. You want the bulb to ideally be plump, white and shiny. Not gray, dull and shriveled. You don’t want any green shoots either. We generally put about 1 clove of garlic per person.
- Olive oil – Olio d’ oliva – Choose a good quality, ideally extra virgin olive oil that you’ve kept in a cool dark place. You want it to taste good in its own right. Note, this is a pasta where you can’t skimp on the olive oil, as it is needed to keep the pasta slippery.
- Peperoncino – I liked to use chili powder for its convenience and consistency of heat. You can also use pre-crushed chili pepper, or crush a whole dried chili pepper and dry-toast it briefly in the skillet. Take out the seeds if you like less heat. Don’t like hot pepper? You can leave it out, or substitute freshly ground black pepper.
- Italian parsley – Parsley is optional. Use flat-leaf Italian parsley. The green adds a nice color contrast, however, I highly recommend a light touch because although it makes for a prettier dish, it can overpower the garlic. I am a huge parsley lover, but I add very little here, when using.
How to Make the Best Aglio e Olio
Sauté garlic in olive oil and toss with pasta. It couldn’t be any simpler. This is a dish all cooks and non-cooks know how to make in Italy. Whether you are a big cook or not at all, the Italian soffritto, sautéing garlic in olive oil, is simple — but it does take a little mastering. And once you do, you can make a myriad of pasta dishes with aglio e olio as your base.
The correct way to make aglio e olio of course differs according to who you ask. In Italy, you may find many versions of the “only way.” This varies from person to person and with regional influences in play. To start, everyone has their preference for how to cut the garlic, if at all.
Cutting the Garlic
How you like to cut the garlic becomes part of your aglio e olio style. Quick note: some people remove the shoot inside each garlic clove for better digestibility, especially with older cloves of garlic.
- Thinly sliced rounds – As thin as you can slice it. Takes practice, but beautifully fried thinly sliced garlic is gorgeous and delicious. This is probably our all-around house favorite.
- Thicker sliced – I’ve eaten it this way on occasion in Italy, and it’s one of my favorite ways to make aglio e olio for myself. Thick rounds of garlic, around 3mm, are slowly cooked to gently caramelize the sugars until tender and golden. Expect it to take around 8 extra minutes. I like to cook this version in a small saucepan so that the oil comes up to a higher level in the pan.
- Little matchsticks – An aesthetic choice.
- Finely chopped – This is is the easiest way to cut it. Keep in mind, the smaller the pieces, the easier they are to burn.
- Don’t cut it at all – Peel the clove and add it whole to the oil, crushing it a little, if you like, to release more flavor. Then it can be removed from the oil before tossing with the pasta. This is great for those who may be intolerant to digesting garlic, yet still want to enjoy the garlic flavor.
The Important Things
Whichever size or shape you choose to cut the garlic, the important thing is to keep the pieces of a fairly consistent size and thickness. Tiny stray pieces brown too much or burn before the larger pieces are ready. Garlic that is past golden imparts a bitter flavor. If this happens, it is best just to discard it and start again.
Master Sautéing Tips
Or Don’t Burn the Garlic! And How to Save It.
I imagine every one has burnt sautéed garlic at one time or another. We still do. It’s an exercise in focus. It can go from white to burnt in a flash. So, the heat should be only hot enough to get the garlic barely sizzling. And as soon as it starts to even hint of turning color, it is time to remove it from the heat, because it will continue to cook and brown. At this point, it can even be too late, depending on how high the heat. This is why many recipes just say to not let it color at all! But if you can get it mastered, you get more flavor with that beautiful golden color. The total sauté time is around 2 minutes.
Tip: Sometimes you can save it at the last moment. If the garlic has just started to color fast, you can try to save it by, first, taking it off the heat, and quickly pouring more olive oil on it to cool it down in a flash.
“No, no, no no, no,” our Roman friend sat by the fireplace at our old Tuscan table. With a weekend house in Tuscany, he had popped in to say hello as we were beginning to get hungry, so we invited him to join us for a quick spaghettata of aglio e olio. “No, no, no. Non si fa cosi!” (basically, this is not how it’s done!), as he clicked his tongue and waved his head in concern. Making it our usual way, we had chopped the garlic too fine for him, the wrong shape, and where were the breadcrumbs? The “correct” way was to add breadcrumbs! This is our guest. I was not at all offended, because although I had not directly experienced this kind of thing before, it was not the first time I’d witnessed it. Sometimes I wonder if it is just tradition in Italy, or even a past-time! Maybe it was the “avvocato,” the lawyer in him. Our Roman friend, a very good cook, who adds the breadcrumb touch of his Calabrian family upbringing, is very civil and friendly, so my reaction to his animated admonitions was a lighthearted shrug with a smile. This, in turn, brought forth another scolding that this was no funny matter. I smiled again and we enjoyed a great afternoon lunch of spaghetti aglio e olio with a local glass of chianti.
We did end up changing our recipe around that time, but not as a result of that lunch. It was a little osteria a short bike ride away from where we lived in Tuscany that prompted an aglio e olio upgrade we love to make on occasion.
Aglio e Olio Upgrade
For many years we made aglio e olio at my house in pretty much the same way: finely chopped garlic, packaged dried pasta, whole peperoncini that I broke open and crushed with my hands. A little parsley. Never any cheese (are you kidding)!
I’m not sure why we ordered aglio olio e peperoncino in an osteria, or any restaurant for that matter. It is something we usually make at home. The good ole standby when nothing else is in the house, except wait! I bet we have some pasta and a clove of garlic! Or when we just crave highly flavorful, quick and easy comfort food.
Maybe it was because this osteria felt like home. Tiny place, 8 maybe 10 tables inside, in a hamlet so small that when driving through the little circle of stone dwellings, one of us usually had to get out to make sure we didn’t scrape our car doors against the stone walls. It was the kind of place you could ride your bike up to and let fall on the ground while you enjoyed dinner, surrounded by vineyards, and copious amounts of stars. A jovial husband ran it together with his wife, a chef with Michelin star cooking under her belt. I could rarely resist getting the osso buco, and her deep chocolate cake, but her aglio e olio became our usual primo. Eating there changed the way we make aglio e olio when we want something a little fancier.
To Make the Tuscan Osteria Variation
Make aglio e olio as usual, but swap out the dried packaged pasta for fresh pasta: chitarra (guitar string pasta) is the perfect choice. Before serving sprinkle and toss with freshly grated pecorino, or freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese. And for a finishing touch, top with a few sage leaves that you’ve briefly fried in the same pan and set aside on paper towels before sautéing the garlic. Mwah!
Storing
Aglio e olio is not very conducive to leftovers. It is a dish to be prepared quickly and enjoyed as soon as it is ready.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz (½ lb) thin spaghetti or linguine
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- a pinch of chili pepper, powdered or crushed (optional)
- a pinch of Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large covered pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, tender yet still firm to the bite.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large enough sauté pan to accommodate the spaghetti. Add the garlic and chili pepper and cook over medium low heat until the garlic just starts to turn golden, around 2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately, as it will continue to cook.
- Drain the pasta and add to the pan along with ½ cup of the cooking water. Toss over high heat until all water is absorbed. Sprinkle with a pinch of fresh Italian parsley, if using, and serve immediately.
Garlic Variations
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- Finely chop or cut into short matchsticks.
- Cut into thicker slices, about 3mm, and gently stew on lower heat to caramelize the sugars until tender, about 10 minutes. I use a small saucepan for this so that the oil comes up to a higher level in the pan.
- Leave the garlic whole – Add the peeled clove whole to the oil, crushing it a little, if you like, to release more flavor. Remove from the oil before tossing with the pasta. Great for those intolerant to digesting garlic or who just prefer a subtle garlic flavor.
Tuscan Osteria Variation:
- Fresh Pasta – Swap dried for fresh pasta, ideally chitarra (guitar spring pasta).
- Cheese – Sprinkle each serving generously with freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese.
- Fried Sage – Top each serving with a few leaves of crispy fried sage. To fry the sage, make sure it is completely dry. Then heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the sage leaves and fry until crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove, dust with a pinch of sea salt and let dry on a paper towel. Set aside.
Nutrition Info: Click to Expand
Aglio e Olio Pronunciation?
a-lyhee-oh eh oh-lee-oh
