Pasta with Garlic & Olive Oil (Aglio e Olio)

Cooking with Rich

2022-08-10T07:42:33+00:00

Pasta with Garlic & Olive Oil (Aglio e Olio) - Cooking with Rich Garlic, olive oil, parsley, a little chilli with pasta ... what more do you need for a simple and stupidly good quick meal?

Pasta aglio e olio, pasta with garlic and olive oil is as simple and as satisfying a quick pasta dish could be. Yet, there are nuances I never knew until I started doing a little research.

Like most dishes that only have a few ingredients you have to start with the quality of the products you use. Don't skimp here, get good quality pasta. My preference for this is a flat pasta, linguine, fettuccini or tagliatelle, you could extend to pappardelle but I personally find it a little too wide for this. Spaghetti of course is the most common when you go and check the multitude of recipes online. If you can find it, spaghettoni or bucatini an option to standard spaghetti as they are a little thicker. You can of course use short pastas also.

There is quick and easy ways to make this dish, but the recipe below has a little more finesse in creating a creamier sauce. It doesn't take much longer than the simplest of versions, but I have found it to be a great deal more satisfying once done.

Here are a few quick clues, repeated in the tips and alternatives section if you happen to print things out.

Use less water for cooking your pasta to make the water more starchy as we use some later in the frying pan.
Salt the pasta water a little more than you may normally and you shouldn't need to add any more later.
Under cook the pasta by 1-2 mins as it will finish cooking in the frying pan.
Use parsley stalks, bashed garlic and a few dry chili flakes to infuse the oil olive before the real cooking starts.
Use quality pasta, any does work fine of course, but for this, the pasta is also part of the experience, not just a delivery mechanism for the garlic and olive oil.
Add 1 tbls of butter to add a little extra creaminess

So have a go and let me know.

Pasta with Garlic & Olive Oil (Aglio e Olio)

Pasta with Garlic & Olive Oil (Aglio e Olio) - Cooking with Rich

Preparation: 5 mins | Cooking time: ~15mins | Serves: 4 adults | Skill Level: Easy

Ingredients

500gram quality pasta (my preference is linguine or fettuccini, but any you prefer works fine).
½ cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp of butter
4 garlic cloves bashed
4 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
2 small fresh chillies, chopped (with or without seeds).
½ tsp of dry chilli flakes.
1 cup of chopped parsley leaves, plus keep the stalks.
Salt & pepper

Method

Pasta with Garlic & Olive Oil (Aglio e Olio) - Cooking with Rich Prepare all your ingredients before you start, there will be little time to be chopping of finding stuff once you start cooking. And read the method 3 times before you start to have a feel for the process.

In a pot add approximately 2½ litres of water and bring to boil, generously add salt.
Add pasta, stir a little, as there is less water you will need to stir a little more than you may normally. Set a timer to under cooked pasta by 1-2 minutes from suggested on the packet.
In a cold large frying pan add olive oil, bashed garlic, parsley stalks and dry chilli flakes and turn heat to medium high.
Once you hear the things starting to cook, sauté for approximately 5 mins, until garlic starts to brown. With a sieved spoon remove the garlic and parsley stalks and as much of the chilli flakes as you can from the oil.
Add in sliced garlic and chopped fresh chilli, cook for 2 minutes, don't let garlic or chilli burn/brown.
Scoop approximately 1/2 cup of pasta water and add to frying pan - careful as it will splash.
Let water boil and reduce to half, add butter, add a little more water if pasta not quite ready yet, but not much.
When pasta is ready remove from pot straight to the fry pan, no need to drain too much.
Combined well and cook for a further 2-3 mins.
Add parsley (keeping a little for presentation), and stir through thoroughly, cooking for another 1 min or so.
Serve immediately.

Tips & Alternatives

Use less water for cooking your pasta to make the water more starchy.
Salt the pasta water a little more than you may normally.
Under cook the pasta by 1-2 mins as it will finish cooking in the frying pan.
Use parsley stalks, bashed garlic and a few dry chili flakes to infuse the oil olive before the real cooking starts.
Use quality pasta.
Adding butter will add a little extra creaminess but this is optional.
You can add a pinch of freshly chopped garlic as you serve to give a little bite.
There was also a recipe using oven baked mashed garlic, added when adding the sliced garlic fresh chilli - haven't tried it but sounds good.
Adding parmesan is not usual, however fill your boots.
Use this recipe as a base and you can then add extra ingredients like oven roasted tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, fried chorizo, mushrooms, prawns/shrimp or anything you really want.

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