My spaghetti aglio e olio recipe gets a noteworthy upgrade with fresh homemade pasta, crispy garlic chips, and toasted sourdough breadcrumbs for extra crunch. Serves 4.
Agilo e olio is a traditional Italian pasta recipe made with 3 simple ingredients: pasta, garlic and olive oil. Common variations include parsley and spicy red pepper flakes; I add homemade sourdough breadcrumbs for crunch.
What I love about aglio e olio, is that it was born out of nothing. A classic dish of Italy’s cucina povera (poor kitchen) it’s a flavorful, budget-style recipe that celebrates the simplicity of fresh and available ingredients.
The idea is to quickly sauté garlic in olive oil while the pasta cooks, adding a splash of starchy pasta water to emulsify and thicken the sauce. My version includes new ways to make it next level.
Why My Recipe Works.
- Fresh homemade pasta (instead of dried) enhances the texture of this dish. It’s soft, light and tender! You can also use my sourdough pasta dough for this. Spaghetti is the traditional pasta shape.
- The pasta is cooked in a smaller amount of water, which creates more starch to emulsify and thicken the sauce. Pasta water is a key ingredient.
- Crispy fried garlic chips makes aglio e olio more flavorful. The leftover garlic-infused oil is used to finish the pasta.
- Sourdough breadcrumbs top the pasta for taste and texture. If you’ve never tried breadcrumbs on pasta before, it’s delicious.
A Few Things To Note:
Fresh Garlic is Best. You will wreck this dish with old garlic. It’s too strong. Grab fresh garlic from the farmers market, the kind with the soft (not papery) skin, and your life will change forever. The flavor is light and delicate.
Use a Mandolin. You’ll need it for paper thin, uniform garlic slices. Or, try a vegetable peeler. Don’t chop the garlic into tiny pieces for this recipe.
Choose Quality Olive Oil. You want something flavorful, but not bitter and dark. From the grocery store, try Lucini, California Olive Ranch and La Tourangelle.
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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Garlic Chips
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Homemade Pasta
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
My spaghetti aglio e olio recipe gets a noteworthy upgrade with fresh homemade pasta, crispy garlic chips, and toasted sourdough breadcrumbs. for extra crunch.
Ingredients
For the Crispy Garlic Chips
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
For the Breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp. garlic oil (reserved from from garlic chips)
- 1/3 cup (35g) seasoned breadcrumbs (homemade sourdough breadcrumbs or store-bought)
For Pasta Aglio e Olio
- 240 g (8 oz) fresh homemade pasta or 225 g (1/2 lb.) dried spaghetti
- 1/3 cup good-quality olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, preferably fresh, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup (12 g) chopped parsley
- 1/2– 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt
Notes & Tips:
- I use a mandolin to thinly slice the garlic.
- Use the freshest garlic available for this dish. It makes a huge difference in flavor.
- Have every single ingredient prepped and ready before cooking the pasta- this dish comes together fast.
- The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce, so it’s important to start with aldente pasta instead of fully cooked. Otherwise the texture will become mushy. You can’t fix mushy pasta.
- The prep & cook times indicated above reflect using dried spaghetti. If using store-bought fresh pasta, reduce the cook time (follow the packet instructions). If using homemade fresh pasta, refer to my timeline in the blog post.
Instructions
Make the Garlic Chips: In a small skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic slices. Cook until light golden in color, about 1 minute. Do not brown (they will taste bitter!). Strain over a small bowl and reserve the garlic-infused oil. Transfer the garlic chips to a paper towel lined plate. Use the skillet to toast the breadcrumbs.
Toast the Breadcrumbs: Measure out 1 tbsp. of the reserved garlic oil; pour into the same skillet used for the garlic chips. Warm over medium heat. Toast the breadcrumbs, stirring occasionally, until golden. Transfer to a bowl.
Make Pasta Aglio e Olio: Bring a pot of water to a boil; season generously with salt.
In a large 12-inch skillet, add the olive oil and sliced garlic. Adjust the heat to medium. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant (about 30 seconds). There should be no color on the garlic. Do not brown. Add the red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Take the pan off the heat.
When the pasta is aldente: Transfer with tongs into the skillet, allowing some of the pasta water to cling to the strands. Place the skillet back onto the heat. Adjust to medium. Season with salt, add the parsley, and toss with tongs to combine. Continue to cook until the sauce emulsifies, adding more pasta water as needed if it becomes dry. Alternatively, add more oil if the sauce needs it.
Transfer the pasta into a large serving bowl. Drizzle with some of the reserved garlic oil. Top with garlic chips and toasted breadcrumbs to finish.
Comments
Laura says
This was a winner in our house; so simple, yet delicious. (I used store bought pasta, but still loves the simple flavors of the recipes.) Thank you!
Gisela says
I just purchased your book, spiral bound, Artisan sourdough and I am so looking forward to go on this journey. I have always believed, strongly, it was something I could not master. Now, I am hopeful.
Tank you for this wonderful teaching tool and your beautiful descriptions of “how to do and learn to make bread”. Totally Amazing!!!!!!!!!
Love your recipes. The simplicity of it all.
Thank You again.
Gisela
Matt says
Great recipe! I love how easy it was to make. Thanks for posting this!!
Emilie Raffa says
Thanks Matt! Thrilled you liked it ;)
Kailee says
Sounds delicious, can’t wait to try!
(Review provided by a support team member for theclevercarrot.com)
Emilie Raffa says
Enjoy Kailee! This is a good one ;)
Julia says
We have fresh garlic from our CSA share and you’re right..there’s nothing like FRESH garlic. When I saw the garlic chips I just had to try this. So simple yet so delicious!!We did not have fresh pasta on hand, but I will try that next!! My family loved the toasted breadcrumbs!!
Emilie Raffa says
It’s like gold! We tried growing some this year, but someone pulled it out before it had a chance to take off. Luckily, I bought a bunch of fresh garlic from a roadside farm stand and I’ve been drowning, happily, in all kinds of pesto, tomato and garlicky sauces!
CMR says
Looks amazing and your photographs really show great quality. Also your recipes are very clear! Love everything that you teach us!
Emilie Raffa says
Thank you so much! Really appreciate the kind feedback :)
Yvonne says
I used fresh pasta from the grocers and our home grown fresh garlic for the delicious recipe! It is a winner in our house as we all love garlic (with a capital L!) (I am going to try my hand a making pasta as you make it look easy Emilie even thou it is a little time consuming we will still know what we are eating)
Thank you so very much for sharing your recipe.
Yvonne
Emilie Raffa says
Yvonne, this is SO great to hear. Thanks for the feedback! There are so many great store bought pasta brands, it’s easy to find something comparable to homemade. But, when you are inspired to give fresh pasta a try, just go for it! I find it delicious obviously, but these days, it’s more therapeutic. Play-doh for adults!