Spaghetti with Olive Oil and Garlic (Aglio e Olio)

Pasta with olive oil and garlic or aglio e olio in Italian is a classic and delicious Italian pasta recipe that is made with pasta, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes and Parmesan. It takes only a few ingredients and just minutes to make. It can easily be made with just staples in your fridge and pantry.  This simple garlic and olive oil pasta will be your new favorite quick pasta dish once you see how delicious and easy it is to make.

About this Pasta with Garlic and Olive Oil

This Italian garlic and oil pasta (aglio e olio) is such an easy dinner to make and in our house we call this "emergency pasta" or "Italian Fast Food". It is our go to dish when we are in a rush or just need a quick meal to make because we are too tired to cook a big meal.  

We also love serving this alongside our Italian Baked Zucchini because it goes perfectly with the sauce and cheese from that dish. This garlic and oil pasta is essentially the base for spaghetti nerano which is Italian spaghetti with zucchini.

You could add fried zucchini to this dish as well. This garlic and oil pasta along with my white wine garlic butter sauce for pasta, and easy carbonara are my go to dishes for fast easy meals.

This simple garlic and oil pasta has only a few ingredients and you probably already have these in your pantry. We often use this dish as the meal we return home to after a long vacation.

We always have pasta, garlic, olive oil and Parmesan in our house and they are all things that we can leave in our house (or fridge in the case of the cheese) and they are still good when we return home.  

Olive Oil Sauce Ingredients

You only need a few ingredients to make this simple classic garlic and olive oil pasta. It is really the best quick meal.

• Pasta. I prefer Spaghetti or thin spaghetti.
• Garlic. Make sure to use fresh garlic for this recipe.
• Fresh ground black pepper for plating
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil. A good quality extra virgin olive oil is important.
• Sprinkling of fresh basil or fresh parsley (optional)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)
• A pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Making this garlic and olive oil pasta is very easy. It has only a couple steps and you will be on your way to a delicious dinner.

If you have 15 minutes then you can make this dish.

How to Make Garlic and Oil Pasta (aka Pasta Aglio e Olio)

How simple is that! The olive oil garlic sauce is literally cooked in the time it takes to cook your pasta.

I just love the simplicity of this dish and that it tastes so amazing even though it is made in minutes.

Additions to this garlic and olive oil pasta

Now we will often will eat this garlic and olive oil pasta on its own but we also like to add in vegetables to make it a more complete meal. This makes a great base to so many veggies.

Our favorite additions to this really simple garlic and olive oil pasta are spinach and kale. I also love adding Arugula. You can add these greens in right before you are ready to serve the pasta and the heat will wilt them down without any additional cooking.

Any leafy green will taste great added to this pasta. If you want to try adding some into your pasta just add it the end when you are tossing your pasta in the sauce.

If leafy greens are not your thing then you can also add roasted vegetables. I love adding my charred broccoli to this pasta. You can pretty much add whatever veggies you have on hand.

If you do choose to add in non leafy green veggies then you will want to find a way to cook them ahead of time.

Thanks to this easy Italian garlic and oil spaghetti recipe, you will never have to worry about what meal you are going to eat after vacation or when you are low on ingredients.

This meal is so delicious despite its simplicity and should be part of your cooking repertoire instead of ordering out!

Tips for making the Best Garlic and Oil Pasta

• You always want to make sure you add pasta water to the cooked pasta. When you add your cooked pasta to the olive oil and garlic you will be cooking and tossing it around for a couple minutes. During this time the pasta is drinking up the liquids in the pan. Having some reserved pasta water on hand allows you to add some moisture back into the pasta dish when this happens.
• Always cook your pasta very al dente for this recipe. This means draining your pasta about 1 minute before al dente. Check your pasta brand and the manufacturers instructions for what they say the time is for al dente. The reason for making sure it is very al dente is you want to give your pasta a couple minutes to cook in the olive oil and garlic sauce that you made and absorb all those delicious flavors. This is how you have a very flavorful Aglio e Olio.
• Make sure you use good quality ingredients (se e my tips below for this). This really helps in recipes with only a few ingredients. For the Parmesan, make sure it is from Italy. For the pasta, make sure it is a good brand.

How to Choose the Best Olive Oil

When looking for a good quality olive oil for this garlic and oil pasta, there are a few things you want to be looking for. Here are my tips to pick the best olive oil when shopping.

1. First, you want to look for extra virgin olive oil that has been produced in Italy for the most authentic taste. Many olive oil brands are mixed from different countries and not as pure in flavor.
2. The next thing you want to make sure of is that you are choosing extra virgin olive oil. This is the least processed olive oil and the one that will have the most flavor.
3. Last, I prefer unfiltered olive oil with my cooking. Unfiltered will have a little sediment at the bottom but to me it also has the most flavor.

Tips and What to Look for When Buying Parmigiano Reggiano

There are only a couple things you need to look for when buying Parmigiano Reggiano at the store.

1. First, it needs to be have the name parmigiano reggiano! This means it was made in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and it is the only true parmigiano reggiano. This region has rights to this name and no one is allowed to name the cheese with this exact name if it was not produced there. If you see the word Parmesan, it was produced elsewhere.
2. When buying parmigiano reggiano at the store, this cheese is sold by weight and it is a little pricey. When I shop for my cheese, I like to look for wedges that have the least amount of rind on them so I am not paying for that and instead paying for more of the cheese 🙂

How to Choose the Best Pasta for this Recipe

When thinking about what pasta goes best with this recipe, the traditional way to eat pasta with garlic and olive oil is with spaghetti or even thin spaghetti. You can also choose to use a penne or rigatoni with this recipe and both go really well.

When buying pasta for this recipe, or any pasta recipe, it is important to buy a high quality bronze aged durham wheat pasta. Spending a few extra cents (or dollars) is well worth it for this type of recipe that has only a few ingredients.

Pairing Ideas

If you are looking for what to serve with this easy garlic and olive pasta recipe, here are some of our favorites:

Faqs

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