Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

StovetopEasyPrep 5 minCook 15 minServes 4

Five ingredients, twenty minutes: garlic gently fried in olive oil, a pinch of chili and parsley turn plain spaghetti into something worth craving.

Ingredients

12 oz spaghetti
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt

Steps

Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain.
Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook gently 3-4 minutes, until the garlic is pale gold — never dark brown.
Add the drained pasta to the skillet with a splash of pasta water and toss vigorously for 2 minutes until the oil and water emulsify into a light sauce.
Stir in the parsley, season with salt and serve immediately.

Serve with: a simple tomato salad, grilled shrimp or crusty bread.

Browned garlic turns bitter and ruins this dish. Keep the heat low and pull the pan off the burner the moment the garlic turns golden.

Find this recipe in the Pasta section on the RecipeDelish home page, where you can scale it, print a clean PDF, download the shopping list and use cook mode.

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