If 6 o’clock arrives and my people don’t know what they want to eat, spaghetti is my easy go-to. So when I stumbled across a recipe for spaghetti aglio e olio (literally, garlic and oil spaghetti), I was curious. Can I really make a delicious pasta with just garlic and olive oil?
Spaghetti aglio e olio hails from Naples, Italy. In a lovely coincidence, my niece’s boyfriend, Gianluca, does as well. I inquired about the native dish, and he said it’s the Neapolitan choice when you have unexpected guests or want a tasty midnight pasta. (Midnight pasta? Yes, please.) While there are more than the two eponymous ingredients, the list is minimal: a chile pepper, pecorino Romano cheese, parsley and pasta water.
And then, readers, Gianluca gave me his mother’s recipe for aglio e olio. I received it with awe and gratitude – followed by the slightest confusion. There were no mystical words of wisdom from his mama’s kitchen. Their family recipe, with accommodations for metric conversions, resembled the other aglio e olio recipes I found.
At that moment, I realized the magic of aglio e olio does not lie in the humble recipe, but in the quality of the ingredients. You’ll want a good extra-virgin olive oil. Instead of spooning minced garlic from a jar, cut slivers from whole cloves. Grate your own pecorino. Find the closest thing to an Italian peperoncino (red pepper) you can. Do not shy away from the heat; it balances the creamy cheese and lightly caramelized garlic.
The following recipe uses the ratio of ingredients I liked the best, taking a more-is-more approach to the oil and cheese. Make the recipe your own by adding additional garlic or substituting whole-wheat pasta for nuanced, nutty notes. In every case, the result will be a simple dish full of complex flavor that’s far more interesting than a basic red sauce pasta. And, indeed, the leftovers taste fantastic at midnight.
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