Friday Recipe: Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Got a request from a YouTube fan for this recipe. It’s super easy and delicious. This sauce pairs best with a good 100% semolina bronze die dried pasta from the Italian regions of Campania or Puglia.
This is a versatile base for steamed clams, mussels or even crab. (I tell you more at the end of the recipe.)
I get cravings for this zesty, satisfying simple pasta. You can make the sauce in less time than it takes to cook the pasta. Easy to do and “sciue sciue” (very fast).
Here’s a recipe for 500g or 1 pound of pasta.
(If you’re a lover of Italian regional food, be sure to see the details of my upcoming Venetian dinner in San Francisco.)
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (garlic and EVOO sauce)
Ingredients
- 5 cloves thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons EVOO
- 1/4 teaspoon peperoncini (red pepper flakes)
- 2 anchovy filets packed in olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons flat Italian parsley, minced
- 1/4 cup pecorino romano, grated
- 11/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
- 1 pound or 500 grams 100% semolina spaghetti or linguine
Cooking Directions
- Put on a large pot of water for the pasta. Be sure the water is well salted, maybe 2 tablespoons of sea salt.
- When it comes to a rapid boil add the pasta. Cook until very al dente, about 7-8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the EVOO, garlic, anchovy and peperoncini in a large saute pan. The anchovy should disintegrate and add a depth of flavor to the sauce.
- Over medium-high heat the oil and toast the garlic and peperoncini in the oil until the garlic takes on a very pale golden color.
- Add 1 cup of the pasta water and let simmer and reduce. The pasta water keeps the sauce from being too greasy.
- When the pasta is very al dente add it to the saute pan. (Be sure to reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.) The pasta will continue to cook in the saute pan and absorb some of the sauce.
- Sprinkle on the parsley. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
- Coat the pasta well with the sauce.
- Shut the heat and sprinkle on the pecorino. Mix well.
- The pasta and pecorino should have absorbed most of the sauce but there should be a little sauce in the bottom of the pan. If the pasta is too dry add more pasta water and mix well again.
- I like to finish each dish with a drizzle of a very good, flavorful EVOO.
- Have some grated pecorino on the table in case your guests want more.
- Steaming Shellfish
- Follow the aglio e olio recipe but do not add any pasta water and cook in a pot not a saute pan.
- When the oil is sizzling in the pot add the mussels/clams. Drizzle in about 1/4 cup dry white wine. Cover the pot.
- When the shells open take out the mussels/clams. Cover to keep warm and set aside and reduce the broth a bit to form the sauce.
- Finish the recipe as above, using the reduced broth to finish cooking the pasta. Plate up the pasta add some mussels/clams to each plate and drizzle with a finishing EVOO.
Photo by der_dennis
Gianni:
I keep looking for the recipe for your Mother Tomato Sauce, you mention it in your trip to Mother’s Home Village in Italy, where the Chef (women) made you Fusilli in with the same sauce your Mother used to make.Along with two pieces of Braciole.
Ciao Paul. Here’s the link to the Sunday Gravy recipe.
https://gianni.tv/sunday-gravy/
Buon appetito!
–Gianni
Followed your recipe to a T, and it is really fantastic! It reminds me of my family. They always made Spaghetti Aglio e Olio as a midnight snack. Ahh, the Italians! 🙂
Ciao Martha. Yup, this is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Midnight, anytime, the sauce is ready in less time than it takes to cook the pasta. Keep on cooking!
Buon appetito!
–Gianni
Please do a video of you making this.
This sounds great! I recently got some Himalayan pink salt from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I’ll have to try it out in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Nice touch especially as a finishing salt.
If you’re not a fan of anchovies you can leave them out, but be sure to add more salt to the dish.
Ciao Michelantonio. Thanks for your great comment. Absolutely, you can leave the anchovies out but you’ll hardly know they are in the sauce. They disintegrate in the sizzling oil. They are an umami–an ingredient that disappears but deepens the flavor of the other ingredients. If you don’t use anchovies you’re right, add more salt. I like this recipe either way and it’s great for vegetarians without the anchovy. Buon apettito!
I was taught to add a little chicken stock instead of the pasta water. Tastes good.
Ciao Marie. You certainly can use chicken stock as many do, but I think this is such a zesty dish pasta water is all you need. You know me, sometimes the best ingredient in simple dishes is the one you leave out.
hey Gianni, my wife and I were just saying we wished you were are neighbor we cook so much alike…:) good luck with this…when will you be on Food tV? 🙂
Hey Joe. If you cook like me I’ll have to come to your house and try something that you and your wife cook up!
BTW Joe, the Food Network hasn’t called. I’ll let you know if they do!
If you are ever in Atlanta, I extend an invitation…I think it would be fun..3 Italians fighting for a burner 🙂