Dinner Tonight: Spaghetti With Oil and Garlic
Editor's note: Starting today, Dinner Tonight will also appear on Tuesdays and Thursdays, rounding things out so you've got a quick and easy recipe to make every weeknight. Today also marks the Dinner Tonight debut of Blake Royer, who will be handling these Tuesday/Thursday recipes. Blake has written for us before, as part of the Paupered Chef team with Nick Kindelsperger—our MWF Dinner Tonight contributor. OK. Enough. You're hungry. Without further ado, here's your recipe... —Adam
I'm especially fond of pasta recipes so simple, they leave you twiddling your thumbs waiting for the water to boil. Pasta might be my favorite thing to cook for a weekday dinner: It adapts easily to cooking for one, it’s cheap, and it’s a serious comfort food that leaves you far happier with yourself than if you’d ordered pizza. So when I was flipping through Cucina Rustica
This recipe takes pasta minimalism to an extreme: There will be no complaints about oversaucing. Yet the result is greater than the sum of its parts—a combination so carefully simple it makes you wonder if life itself is too complicated. And, as if the grand total of seven ingredients (including salt) wasn't already spare enough, the authors say that the addition of lemon juice, "strictly speaking, isn’t necessary." I wouldn't agree—it provides a nice acidic foil to the garlicky olive oil and, along with chopped parsley, brightens the dish. But I suppose if your pantry is especially sad and lacking, you could still pull this off without the lemon. Just make sure you cook your pasta perfectly al dente.
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (Spaghetti With Oil and Garlic)
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
3/4 cup good olive oil
12 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon
Large handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 pound spaghetti
Procedure
1. Heat the olive oil with the garlic over very low heat in a small skillet (you want it to at least cover the bottom of the skillet, and then some, so the garlic can “steep”).
2. When the garlic turns opaque, add the chili flakes, salt, and squeeze the lemon into the oil. Turn off the heat--the garlic should gently begin to brown around the edges. When the oil has cooled somewhat, add the parsley so that it gently wilts.
3. In the meantime, cook the spaghetti in abundant, salty water until al dente. Drain, transfer to a serving bowl, then cover with the warm oil and toss with tongs. Drizzle more olive oil if desired.
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7 Comments:
Ah everything old is new again. This is a 7 fishes dish often with clams, sardines, shrimp or lobster.
Comfort food.
JerzeeTomato at 4:50PM on 12/04/07
I make this for myself ALL the time and it never fails - in fact, the last time was just Friday. Before I had my fresh herb garden, I used to add some Italian seasoning and/or pepper to it as well (now I just add some basil, oregano, and parsley). I had never seen a recipe for it before - I just thought that I was clever, especially with the red chili flakes which are a MUST for me.
charmon at 5:19PM on 12/04/07
I think I've found dinner for tonight! And thankfully it appears quick and easy enough for me to still have time to finish my final paper for grad school. Thanks for the great recipe.
Erin at 6:02PM on 12/04/07
Welcome, Blake. We're really happy you're going to be regularly contributing to Serious Eats. Great first post as well. Made me hungry.
Ed Levine at 6:35PM on 12/04/07
I make Spaghetti AOP (Aglio, Olio e Peperoncini) almost weekly for my Bolognese husband. It requires VERY good olive oil, the best you can find.
But don't put all the olive oil in the pan. Use a saute pan large enough to hold the spaghetti , but just enough oil to saute the garlic (maybe 1/4 cup?). Add the pepper after the garlic is sauteed and a little salt. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and toss it into the saute pan, get all the garlic and oil and peppers mixed in well, then serve it in bowls. Provide freshly ground salt (optional) and a bottle of EXCELLENT olive oil to drizzle on the pasta just before eating. You don't need herbs or lemon juice - if you've got good olive oil and other ingredients. Some parsley is nice, but lemon juice would just cover the taste of the other ingredients, in my opinion. (My husband shuddered when I mentioned it.)
annaraven at 2:22AM on 12/05/07
I make a version of this almost every week for a side dish, but with a lot less olive oil, less garlic (minced, not sliced), and more parsley (minced instead of chopped). I like to toss in bread crumbs at the end. Never thought of adding lemon juice, though; I'll definitely give that a try.
Dee at 8:33AM on 12/05/07
hardly a week goes by that i don't eat this. many, many years ago my aunt moved to new york and married a guy from hell's kitchen, whose parents were from italy, and she introduced this back to my family in pittsburgh and made it a family favorite. even i always have the ingredients for this in my house.
carriebwc at 9:06AM on 12/05/07