Name: Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces spaghetti pasta, snapped in half; 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese; 1/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 5 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Summary:

Aglio e olio means "garlic and oil" in Italian, describing a spaghetti dish with olive oil and freshly minced garlic, coated in a simple sauce of melted parmesan cheese and pasta cooking water. Only seven ingredients are needed for this easy recipe, and everything is cooked together in a single pan — you don't need a separate pot to boil the pasta.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

4.5 from 4 votes

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Prep: 5

Cook: 20

Yield: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS

▢ 8 ounces spaghetti pasta, snapped in half (Note 1)
▢ 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
▢ 1/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (Note 2)
▢ 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
▢ 5 cloves garlic, minced
▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
▢ 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown Garlic: Add olive oil and garlic to 3-quart or larger pan. Cook over medium heat until garlic is browned, a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add Spaghetti: Add 4 cups of water and spaghetti to pan. Bring to boil over high heat. Cook until spaghetti is tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not drain cooking liquid; keep liquid in pan to become part of sauce (Note 3).
Finish & Serve: Decrease heat to medium. Add parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, and pepper to pan. Stir until cheese has melted. Serve immediately while hot (Note 4).

NUTRITION

Makes 2 Servings

Amount Per Serving:

Calories 670 (26% from fat)
Total Fat 19g	30%
Saturated Fat 7g	36%
Cholesterol 32mg	11%
Sodium 700mg	29%
Net Carb 92.5g
Total Carb 97.5g	33%
Dietary Fiber 5g	21%
Sugars 6.5g
Protein 27g

Vitamin A 22% · Vitamin C 25% · Calcium 37% · Iron 30%

PHOTOS

spaghetti aglio e olio served on a black plate

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Spaghetti Pasta. The cooking time listed in the recipe is specifically for spaghetti-type pasta. If you use a different type of pasta, your cooking time will differ. If you use angel hair pasta, you may only need to use about 3 cups of water and 5 minutes of cooking time.

(2) Sun-Dried Tomatoes. This ingredient adds an extra burst of tart flavor as well as a nice pop of color to the finished dish. I use dry-packaged sun-dried tomatoes, typically found in the produce area of U.S. supermarkets, in plastic packaging. Oil-packaged ones are fine as long as you blot off any excess oil.

(3) Cooking Pasta. All of the other recipes that I’ve seen for aglio e olio ask that you cook the spaghetti pasta in a separate pot of boiling water. This recipe is different because everything cooks in the same pot, including the spaghetti, so you don’t need to use more than one pot for this recipe. The added benefit of this? The pasta water, or water used for boiling and cooking the pasta, is not drained and is automatically repurposed to form the sauce for the spaghetti. Four cups of water may seem like a lot, but the sauce will not end up being watery because the dry spaghetti absorbs water as it cooks, there’s also evaporation going on for 10 minutes over high heat, and the parmesan cheese helps thicken it up.

(4) Serving. This dish is best eaten while hot; once it cools, the pasta will become sticky since it’s covered with parmesan cheese. Enjoy while it’s hot and the spaghetti is still silky smooth. Keep the dish on a burner to keep it warm if you’re not serving immediately. You can serve this spaghetti on its own, or pair with a nice Greek salad or crusty bread.

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Did you make this? Rate this recipe:

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Robert Early

Question: After the spaghetti is cooked o you drain the water from the pot before adding the other ingredients?

Julia

No, you keep the water in the pan, which becomes part of the sauce.

John

In the photo just before you say “This recipe yields two good-sized servings” — How big is that pan? (It looks a little smaller than the 3 quart size you recommend?) Curious what brand it is, too.

The pan is 10 inches wide and 2 to 3 inches tall. The brand is Calphalon. Hope that helps!

Mary BYRNE

Hi Julia. I haven’t made this recipe yet, but intend to. For those of us used to the traditional method of cooking pasta (generous, rolling boiling water) this sounds as if it just wouldn’t work but 4 cups is not very much water at all so you can see it is quite a different method and yes, the starch from the pasta cooking would be the ‘thickener’ for the sauce.
I’m very interested to see how it works out. grazie! buona cucina! Maria – the Little Cellar Rat Hill of Promise Winery Childers QLD Aust

Mallow

Yummy and fast. I’ve made a similar recipe for years, with addition of feta cheese and sliced green olives. One of our favorites. Love how simple this is! Thanks!

Melrose Marie

Have not made the aglio e olio but cannot wait to try it, which will be soon. Do you have a recipe for Spaghetti San Giuseppe? This was a white spaghetti dish which I loved as a kid growing up. My maternal grandparents, natives of a tiny “burg” in Sicily, were very, very devoted to St. Joseph and each year observed the feast day (March 19) in a special way. This was one of the traditional dishes and all I remember about it was it was white (no red sauce, no parm cheese, altho I would use it) and
was covered in coarse bread crumbs with parsley flakes mixed in) and the bread crumbs tasted sweet – there had to be a bit of sugar thrown in somewhere. I would love to know if this is something you’re familiar with. Thanks –

MaryJane Sorgi

This recipe sounds and looks so good. I can’t help but to think that it would be a bit watery since you don’t drain it. Does the parmesan cheese prevent that?

It’s not watery because the dry spaghetti absorbs water as it cooks, there’s also evaporation going on for 10 minutes over high heat (Step 2), and the parmesan helps thicken it up.

Sandie

This was so flavorful. Used some fresh flavor bomb tomatoes because they needed to be used up. Also added some fresh basil. Will definitely make again. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

PALLAVI BISWAS

Hi Julia, me and my son are big fans of pasta in general and we want to try this one-pot method… but need to know this first… isn’t pasta always added only after the water is already boiling? Your recipe adds spaghetti and water at the same time, which I am wondering about.

Correct, this is a different method that I prefer for its convenience (one-pan only) and you get to re-use the pasta water for the sauce.

Dolores

I use both tomatoes dry and in oil. Have you tried both and which is better?

I use dried sun-dried tomatoes. I haven’t used the ones in oil, but that should work well also.

Rick Z

Julia I liked it..very tasty, but not very low carb! I used Dreamfields spaghetti which is still 41G

Lyng

Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try this tonight.

Maria

Hi, from Sofia, Bulgaria!
Congratulations on wonderful recipes!
It`s hard for me to work with ounce, Is it possible to indicate weight.
Thank you!
Greetings! Maria

Hi Maria! Ounces are a unit of weight. In this recipe, 8 ounces spaghetti = 227 grams. Hope that helps!

One Pot Spaghetti Aglio e Olio