Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Roman cooks taught Chris Kimball to infuse the oil with smashed garlic cloves, then remove them—all of the garlic flavor, none of the raw bite.
- Makes4-6 servings
- Cook Time40 minutes
- Active time plus cooling20 minutes active
Yes, spaghetti with garlic and oil—aka aglio e olio—is easy to make, but getting it to taste great is difficult. Ask anyone who has tried. Thrown together willy nilly, the garlic is apt to end up barely noticeable or, on the other hand, blow-your-head-off pungent. The pasta might be dry and sticky, but compensate with more EVOO and then it’s drowning in an oil slick. Our technique for achieving aglio e olio that’s perfetto? Infuse olive oil with a handful of smashed garlic cloves over low heat (we also include chopped parsley stems for complexity). Then strain out the cloves so only the oil is added to the drained pasta, but also toss in a little minced fresh garlic for a touch of pungency. Starchy pasta water is the other trick. Added at the end, it loosens the noodles while also adding a very light creaminess. If you like, reserve the garlic–parsley mixture that remains after straining the oil. Mash it to a paste with a pinch of salt, then mix in fresh oil. The paste can be spooned on top of the pasta if you’d like more garlic in your aglio e olio, or save it for spreading onto bread or stirring into soups, stews or sauces.
Don’t let the garlic brown too quickly. Once you see bubbling around the cloves, reduce the heat to low. The garlic should cook lazily and gently. If the bubbling is energetic, moderate the heat by occasionally moving the pan off, then back onto the burner, or transfer it to a smaller burner, if you have one. Also, make sure to use only 3 quarts of water to boil the pasta. This will give you extra-starchy cooking water to help the create a light sauce for the pasta.
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