Spaghetti aglio, olio pepperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli)

This humble bowl of pasta is one of the signature dishes of Italy. North and south unite over these luscious pasta strands enveloped in a velvety emulsion of olive oil, garlic, chilli and acqua di cottura (pasta cooking water). Italians rigorously eat this dish without grated parmigiano on top. Don’t ask why … it’s tradition!

Spaghetti aglio, olio pepperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli). Credit: Plum Books / Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 400 g dried spaghetti
• 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• a few flat-leaf parsley stems, stalks and leaves separated, both finely chopped
• 1 tsp chilli flakes or 1 bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped (more if you like it hot)
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti, stir and cook for 5 minutes or until halfway done.
2. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped parsley stalks, the chilli and garlic and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic smells fragrant and looks pale golden.
3. At this point, lift out the half-cooked spaghetti with tongs and drop it straight into the garlic and chill oil, along with the pasta cooking water that comes with it (see Note). Stir well and add a little more pasta cooking water as you keep stirring. This ensures that the pasta cooks until al dente and encourages the natural starch to be released into the pan and emulsify with the oil. Cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring with the tongs, until the pasta is perfectly al dente.
4. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley leaves and serve straight away – spaghetti can’t sit or the strands will glue together!

Note

The secret to creating that coveted creamy texture is the acqua di cottura (pasta cooking water), so make sure you drag enough over when transferring the pasta from the pot to the frying pan.

This is an edited extract from Italian Family Food by Silvia Colloca (Plum, RRP $44.99), photography by Alan Benson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.