Aglio E Olio

While riding through the back roads of Tuscany on my BMW GS motorcycle with my buddy Dave, we stop in this small village for lunch at an unassuming bistro where I order Aglio E Olio, not because I know what it is, but because the name sounded cool. I was initially disappointed when Dave’s large sea food platter arrived next to my small bowl of plain spaghetti; I mean this dish had no protein and no sauce, just noodles and a little parsley garnish. Once I started eating though, I discovered the pasta was coated in a clear garlic infused olive oil with just the right balance of black pepper and salt. My initial disappointment turned into the best non seafood meal I had in Italy and every since I’ve been trying to recreate it. Here is my latest attempt, bon appetite.

Ingredients

  • 16 oz dry pasta, such as linguini or spaghetti
  • 4 quarts cold water
  • 2 TBL Kosher salt – for he pasta water
  • 4 oz Olive oil
  • 6 Garlic cloves – peeled, crushed, and minced
  • 0.5 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese – finely grated (do not use pre-shredded)
  • 1 TBL Butter
  • 1 tsp Red Pepper flakes – adjust for personal taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh Italian parsley – for garnish

Process

  1. Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Toast garlic
    1. Heat a med sauce pan on med heat.
    2. Add olive oil and let warm.
    3. Add garlic and cook until lightly toasted.
    4. Remove from heat, cover and allow to rest.
  3. Start Pasta
    1. Bring cold water to a rolling boil in a pot at least 8 qts in size.
    2. Add salt and wait for water to return to rolling boil.
    3. Add pasta and cook uncovered ~14mins or until done to your taste
      • Place a wooden spoon over uncovered pot to keep water from boiling over.
  4. Drain pasta but do not rinse. Retain a cup of the pasta water just in case you need it later.
  5. Toss pasta with garlic oil in a large bowl.
  6. Add butter and cheese and toss again.
    • If the Aglio is too thick, add a small amount of the retained pasta water, if it’s too thin, add more cheese.
  7. Garnish with parsley

Note 1: Prepacked per-shredded cheese has a lot of nasty chemicals to keep the shreds from clumping in the package, however, these chemicals also cause the cheese to clump when melting that end up being balls of cheese that don’t stick to the pasta.

Note 2: Rinsing pasta makes is slippery so the olio sauce and cheese won’t stick.

Note 3: Reheating this dish in a sauce pan will turn the pasta off white but will also cook the olive oil into the pasta making it even better than before. You can use a microwave to reheat , but I don’t recommend it.

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