Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Garlic • Olive Oil • Chili — Naples, Italy

Midnight pasta of Naples: six pantry ingredients, 20 minutes, and the garlic rule — golden, never brown.

Ingredients

• 400 g — Spaghetti
• 80 ml — Extra-virgin olive oil (⅓ cup)
• 30 g — Garlic, thinly sliced (6 cloves)
• 3 g — Chili flakes (1 tsp)
• 15 g — Flat-leaf parsley, chopped (¼ cup)
• 2 g — Lemon zest (optional)

Step-by-Step Method

1. Start the garlic cold. Sliced garlic goes into cold olive oil, then gentle heat. It should sizzle softly and turn pale gold in 2–3 minutes — pull it earlier than you think.
2. Pasta, very al dente. Boil spaghetti in salted water; pull it 2 minutes early and save a mug of pasta water.
3. Emulsify. Chili flakes bloom 10 seconds in the oil. Pasta goes in with a splash of water; toss and toss until the oil turns into a shiny sauce that clings.
4. Finish fresh. Heat off: parsley and lemon zest. Serve in warm bowls — no cheese on this one, that's the Neapolitan rule.

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