Toscanini recipe: Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chili pepper (spaghetti aglio e olio)

From orecchiette alla pugliese, the signature pasta of Puglia with broccoli, garlic and anchovies, to pasta with a rich sauce of stewed oxtail; every city or region in Italy has its own pasta classics. In Restaurant Toscanini’s pasta book, you’ll find an enormous number of pasta dishes from all over Italy. This spaghetti with garlic, oil and chili pepper (spaghetti aglio e olio) is ideal for a weekday.

This pasta was first described in a book in 1837, published in Naples: the Cucina Teorico Pratica, written by Ippolito Cavalcanti. He was an aristocrat from Naples, Count of Buonvicino, and highly knowledgeable about gastronomy. Vermiculi aglio e uoglie is the name in the Neapolitan dialect of the first spaghetti aglio e olio.

The aglio, olio e peperoncino, abbreviated to AOP at Toscanini, is the basis for many pasta dishes, with vegetables, mushrooms, squid, shellfish and fish. The possibilities are endless.

In Italy, it is a very popular pasta for the spaghettata di mezzanotte, pasta you make when you come home tipsy at night, because you always have the ingredients at home. Although this pasta consists of fairly simple ingredients, this is yet another dish in which everything has to be ‘just right’. When a new primi chef is hired at the restaurant, they often ask whether he or she can make spaghetti AOP for the staff meal. If the pan is empty, you know you have a good chef on your hands.

How to make spaghetti AOP with garlic, oil and chili pepper

• Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and gently fry the garlic and parsley stems until golden brown. Add the crumbled chili peppers and remove the pan from the heat. Remove the parsley stems.
• Put a pan with 4 litres of water on the stove. When the water boils, add 2 level tablespoons of salt (this is approximately 8 grams of salt per litre of water). Add the pasta to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook it for 2 minutes less than indicated on the package; it should be very al dente.
• Return the pan with the oil to the heat. Remove the pasta from the water with tongs and add it to the oil. Add two ladlefuls of cooking water and keep the pasta moving for about 2 more minutes. Add a little more cooking water if necessary. When the desired doneness has been reached, remove the pan from the heat.
• Stir in the finely chopped parsley and another splash of olive oil, then serve.

Title: Toscanini
Author: Maud Moody & Leonardo Pacenti
Price: €35
Publisher: Carrera Culinair

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