Dish · italian
Aglio e Olio
Spaghetti tossed with olive oil, thin slices of garlic, red pepper flakes, and parsley, with no cheese or tomato. The garlic barely cooks past pale gold, and the oil itself carries most of the flavor.
Where it comes from
Neapolitan home cooks leaned on it because pasta, oil, and garlic were on hand even when meat or cheese weren't. It stayed a late-night or end-of-week dish at home, long before restaurants outside Italy put it on menus.
What cooks argue about
Cooks argue over how far to color the garlic: pale gold stays sweet, a shade darker turns the oil bitter. Some add a splash of pasta water; others keep it dry.
Versions
Nobody has published a aglio e olio here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
garlic
olive oil
parsley