Spaghetti aglio e olio — garlic, olive oil and a little chilli
Serves 4 · Prep 5 min · Cook 12 min
The name says it all: aglio e olio, garlic and oil. But the real secret of the dish isn't on the list — it's in a gesture. You soften thinly sliced garlic to pale gold in the oil, keep back a ladle of pasta water, and bind it all off the heat: the starch in the water and the oil take to each other in a creamy emulsion that coats every strand. Without it, the oil slides off and the dish stays dry; with it, five ingredients become a silky sauce.
That's why we reach for our Madre Terra extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed in Puglia: we barely warm it to perfume the garlic, then call it back, raw, to finish. Beneath it, bronze-cut spaghetti from Libera Terra — organic, from cooperatives set up on land seized from the southern mafia clans — whose rough surface holds that emulsion where a smooth pasta lets it slip away.
Ingredients
- 400 g Libera Terra spaghetti
- 6 tbsp Madre Terra extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle to serve
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 pinch of red chilli (peperoncino), to taste
- 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- salt
Method
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt generously, and cook the spaghetti al dente per the packet time.
- Meanwhile, warm the olive oil over low heat in a large pan. Add the thinly sliced garlic and chilli and let them infuse gently, 2-3 minutes — the slices should barely turn blonde, never brown (garlic chopped too fine would burn and turn bitter).
- Before draining, reserve a large ladle of the pasta water.
- Tip the drained spaghetti into the pan, off the heat or on the lowest flame. Add a little pasta water and toss vigorously for 1 minute: the starch in the water and the oil emulsify and coat each strand in a silky film.
- Add the chopped parsley, toss once more, and adjust the salt.
- Serve at once, with a final drizzle of raw Madre Terra olive oil.
The emulsion, where it all happens: don't tip the pasta into a still oil. Take the pan off the heat, add a ladle of pasta water and toss hard — it's this marriage of starch and oil that creates the dish's creamy veil. Keep a thread of raw oil for the end, too: the heat must never put it out.
All in one box: it's the same oil as on our bruschetta and our spaghetti al pomodoro — a bottle that transforms simple things. With the spaghetti and the passata, you'll find it in the La Cena Italiana box.
Discover the La Cena Italiana boxFrequently asked
How do you keep the garlic from going bitter?
Low heat, and keep an eye on it. Slice it thinly rather than mincing it: minced, it burns in seconds and turns bitter. Sliced, it goes blonde slowly and perfumes the oil without scorching. If it's moving too fast, lift the pan off the heat — the hot oil will finish the job.
What's the pasta water for?
It binds the sauce. Its starch, tossed hard with the oil, makes a creamy emulsion that coats the pasta — without it, the oil slides off and the dish stays dry. Always keep a ladleful before you drain.
Which olive oil?
A real extra virgin, one you'd taste off the spoon. In aglio e olio the oil is half the dish, added raw: a mediocre oil shows at once, a fine Apulian oil makes all the difference.
