You don’t need jars of pasta sauce or complicated recipes to make a delicious pasta dish. While most of us are partial to a creamy carbonara or rich ragu, a flavoursome dinner can be achieved with cupboard ingredients alone. This scrumptious Italian-style pasta recipe, fondly known as ‘spaghetti aglio e olio’, is one I’ve perfected over numerous trials, achieving the ideal balance of seasoning to complement the pasta.
Crafted with a straightforward mix of three primary ingredients: dried pasta (you can opt for spaghetti or linguine), fresh red chilli (or chilli flakes) and chopped garlic cloves, this dish can be rustled up in mere minutes using a frying pan. The recipe boasts numerous advantages, one of which is that it’s crafted with whole ingredients that are easy to stockpile at home, even when the fridge is bare.
It’s always my go-to when I’ve not been shopping for a while or need something quick to satisfy pasta cravings. Plus, its versatility makes it easy to customise: add fresh vine tomatoes, serve with a dressed salad, or add prawns for extra flavour.
It also fits seamlessly into a Mediterranean diet, with high-quality olive oil accentuating the flavour of the ingredients and enhancing the silky texture of the pasta.
Chilli garlic pasta recipe
Ingredients
- 200g spaghetti
- One or two fresh red chillies (or use chilli flakes)
- Two to three garlic cloves, chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Chopped parsley or basil to serve (optional)
- Salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
Method
Preparing this dish is incredibly straightforward. To begin, you need just a frying pan and a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with boiling water from a kettle, or use cold tap water and bring to a boil on the hob (though bear in mind this will take longer).
Add a dash of coarse salt to the water and introduce the spaghetti. Cook the pasta until it’s soft but retains a bit of bite for the perfect texture.
As the pasta is boiling, pour a generous amount of olive oil into a frying pan and set it over a low flame. Meanwhile, finely chop the red chillies, discarding the seeds.
I’ve found that one-and-a-half chillies are just right for two people with a moderate tolerance for spice, but feel free to adjust this to your liking.
Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves, then toss them into the pan along with the diced chilli. Allow these ingredients to cook gently for a few minutes, taking care not to let them brown too much in the pan.
Once the pasta is perfectly cooked, drain it using a colander, keeping aside two tablespoons of the pasta water to add to the frying pan. Add the drained pasta to the pan containing the chilli and garlic, stirring it through with an additional drizzle of oil if you wish.
After ensuring the pasta is well coated, season it generously with freshly cracked black pepper and divide it into two bowls. Chop up some fresh parsley and sprinkle it on top, or finish off with a handful of rocket and a dusting of grated Parmesan.
This dish is incredibly versatile and can be paired with a variety of additional flavours; cooked prawns or a side of fresh mussels work well.
Once completely cooled, store any leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for three to five days. Reheat as necessary in the microwave or in a pan until piping hot.
