Like many Southern Italian dishes, this traditional Neapolitan pasta dish is characterized by its simplicity and its frugality in its use of very few ingredients–ingredients that we keep on hand most of the time. It is often considered a go-to dish when you want something quick and satisfying (and when there is not much else to choose from in your pantry).
This is also a favorite, late-night dish for restaurant chefs who come home exhausted and need to have something that can be ready in the short time that the pasta needs to cook! It is delicious as is, but it can also be used as a base to build upon, by adding a few extra ingredients as it is explained at the end of the recipe.
Pasta with Garlic, Olive Oil, Parsley & Pecorino Cheese
- 2 TBSP. salt
- 1 lb. spaghetti or linguine
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 10 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes (from crushed dried chillies)
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½-1 cup fresh parsley, minced
- 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese, plus extra for serving
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and stir in the pasta. Cook al dente. Before you drain the pasta, reserve and set aside 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a shallow pot, large enough to hold the pasta. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until it just begins to turn golden on the edges. Make sure you watch it closely so it doesn’t overcook! Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Carefully add the reserved pasta-cooking water to the garlic and oil and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by about a third. (The starch of the pasta water will help thicken the sauce.)
- Add the drained pasta to the garlic sauce and toss. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and Pecorino cheese and toss well. Allow the pasta to rest off the heat for a few minutes and for the sauce to be absorbed. Taste for seasoning and serve warm with extra Pecorino cheese on the side.
Delicious variations of this dish
In Southern Italian cooking, many pasta sauces begin with this simple olive oil and garlic base. The most common regional variant of pasta aglio e olio, is the addition of toasted fresh breadcrumbs. If you have a couple of slices of good, hearty bread, remove the crust, crumble it and toast it in olive oil!
- If you add tomatoes and basil, you have the most basic, light tomato sauce, perfect for pizza as well.
- Adding some tomatoes (fresh or canned) to the sauce, and more heat, you have pasta all’arrabbiata.
- If you add pancetta or guanciale, you have pasta all’amatriciana.
- Adding a can of tuna, you have pasta al tonno.
- If you add capers and anchovies, you have sugo alla puttanesca.
- If you add clams (with or without tomatoes), you have pasta alle vongole.
This is spot-on, pure comfort! When we come home from a trip, and there’s nothing in the fridge, this is my go-to –with a glass of white wine. :))
Your list of variations at the end is brilliant, Marilena! Thank you!
– Ratatouille