Spicy Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti
Thin spaghetti tossed in a garlic and chili flake olive oil sauce, loosened with starchy cooking water and finished with parmesan and parsley. A fast, punchy Italian-style pasta for one.
- Total
- 17 min
- Prep 3 · Cook 14
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Emulsifying · Blooming spices
- Savory
- Quick
- Italian
- Spicy
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Fill a large pot with at least 1.5 l water, add 1 tsp salt and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add 100 g pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once so it does not stick.
~10 min
Salting the water seasons the pasta from within as it hydrates, and a rolling boil keeps strands moving so they cook evenly.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the pasta boils, thinly slice 3 cloves garlic. Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat, add the garlic and 0.5 tsp chili flakes and cook until the garlic turns pale gold and smells sweet, about 2 minutes. Do not let it brown or it will taste bitter.
~2 min
Gentle heat coaxes sweetness from garlic without browning, since burnt garlic turns the oil acrid and bitter.
Keep the garlic at a gentle sizzle, not a fry: pale gold garlic is sweet, dark garlic turns the whole sauce acrid.
-
While step 1 cooks
Stir 0.5 tsp dried oregano and 0.5 tsp dried basil into the garlic oil and cook for 30 seconds so they bloom. Remove the skillet from the heat.
~1 min
Brief heating in hot oil blooms the dried herbs, releasing fat-soluble flavor compounds that cold herbs cannot provide.
Blooming spices Heat dried herbs in oil for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Do not let them burn or they turn bitter and acrid.
-
Scoop out 120 ml of the starchy pasta cooking water into a mug, then drain the pasta in a colander.
~1 min
Starchy cooking water contains dissolved starch that later emulsifies the oil into a creamy sauce that clings.
-
Return the skillet to medium-low heat, add the drained pasta and 80 ml of the reserved cooking water. Toss with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes until the oil and water turn creamy and coat every strand, adding the last 40 ml water if it looks dry.
~2 min
Tossing pasta with starchy water and oil creates an emulsion, thickening into a glossy sauce that coats every strand.
Emulsifying Toss vigorously with starchy water so oil and water combine into a creamy sauce. If it looks greasy, add a splash more water and keep tossing.
-
Take the pan off the heat, grate 25 g parmesan over the pasta and toss until melted and glossy. Stir in 2 tbsp chopped parsley and 0.25 tsp black pepper, then taste and add a pinch of salt if needed. Serve straight away.
~2 min
Off-heat grating lets parmesan melt smoothly into the emulsion instead of clumping into rubbery strings.
Grate the parmesan off the heat so it melts into the sauce instead of clumping into strings.