Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili (in Italian, pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino) is a classic of Italian cuisine: simple, quick and delicious. This dish requires few ingredients and is ready in under 15 minutes. It’s the perfect choice for a last‑minute dinner or whenever you want to enjoy a good plate of pasta without complications. It represents the essence of Italian cooking: a few high‑quality ingredients that speak for themselves.
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The video is in Spanish, but Google auto-generated subtitles are available.
Ingredients for spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili
Serves 4:
- 400 g good‑quality spaghetti (preferably bronze‑drawn)
- 4–5 garlic cloves
- Fresh chili to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil (generous amount)
- Fresh parsley
- Salt
Remember: At the end of the article you’ll find the complete recipe card with detailed prep and cooking times.
A spaghetti recipe with history: between tradition and cinema
Before diving into the step‑by‑step preparation of these delicious spaghetti with garlic and chili, I’d like to share a curious story linking this dish to Italian cinema that helps us understand its importance in Italy’s food culture. It shows how a simple pasta can become a cultural symbol.
Alberto Sordi, an icon of Italian spaghetti
Have you noticed—if you’ve been to Rome—that among the pictures and photos on the walls of many downtown restaurants, you often see Alberto Sordi eating spaghetti?
An unforgettable spaghetti scene
What’s funny is that tourists usually recognize the actor, but not the film. In case you don’t know, it’s a still from a scene in Un americano a Roma. Sordi plays Ferdinando Mericoni, a young man obsessed with the United States, where he desperately wants to live. He tries to Americanize his life in Rome based on his idea of the US, shaped by Hollywood films arriving in 1950s Italy.
The symbol of a generation of Italian pasta lovers
His situations were absurdly comic, but although exaggerated for laughs, many Italian youngsters of the time shared Mericoni’s obsession, especially after US troops arrived in Rome on June 4, 1944 to liberate the city from the German army. By the way, the famous Neapolitan song by Renato Carosone Tu vuò fa’ l’americano rides that same trend. Ring a bell?
A cultural battle fought over spaghetti
The photo comes from a scene where Sordi initially rejects Italian food—in this case spaghetti, which he generically calls “maccheroni,” a term once used abroad to mock Italians—because he only wants to eat “American,” while his poor father, trying to sleep, complains, fed up with Ferdinando’s nonsense. In rejecting his own culture, Mericoni attempts to eat spaghetti “the American way,” with ketchup, instead of the traditional Italian way.
The scene culminates with the famous line “Maccarone, m’hai provocato ed io ti distruggo adesso maccarone…,” a turning point where, despite his US obsession, Mericoni can’t deny his Italian identity. It’s amusing that he surrenders to a dish like spaghetti with garlic and chili, a recipe claimed by Tuscans, Abruzzesi, Romans, Sicilians and Neapolitans—so old that no one knows exactly where it came from. Perhaps because it represents the purest essence of Italian cuisine.
Mericoni’s mysterious plate of spaghetti
So, which pasta is Mericoni actually eating? I looked into it, but no one seems entirely sure. I found a TV program, “I Cucinatori,” discussing three hypotheses: bucatini all’amatriciana, cacio e pepe, and spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili.
I find it unlikely to be amatriciana—though the film is black and white, the pasta looks “white,” that is, without tomato sauce. I also wouldn’t say cacio e pepe: pecorino and pepper, emulsified with a bit of pasta water, coat the pasta, not loose and glossy like Mericoni’s plate.
Of the three, spaghetti with garlic and chili seems most probable. Especially because, if you remove the garlic and chili after frying—as people often do at home—at a glance it looks like it’s simply dressed with a drizzle of oil, just like in the movie.
Carrettiera spaghetti: a fourth option
Although the program didn’t mention it, there could be a fourth pasta. At the start of the monologue Mericoni calls the pasta left for him “carter’s food.” In Sicily there’s spaghetti alla carrettiera—the name comes from carters who traveled with only non‑perishable ingredients. Though sometimes enriched with mushrooms, tuna or tomato, the base version is a cold pasta, usually spaghetti, dressed with raw garlic, oil, chili and pecorino. In other words, a close cousin of our spaghetti with garlic and chili. And although Sicilian in origin, it became part of diets across the country, especially in times of scarcity.
How to make perfect spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili
The secret of water and pasta
The first crucial step is to bring plenty of salted water to a boil. Use quality pasta, preferably bronze‑drawn, because it releases the starch needed to create the dish’s signature creaminess.
The art of flavoring the olive oil
While the pasta cooks, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a wide pan. Add the garlic (whole with skin for a milder flavor or sliced for more intensity) and parsley sprigs to perfume the oil.
Getting the chili just right
When the pasta is halfway cooked, remove the parsley sprigs and add the chili to the flavored oil. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn, to avoid bitterness.
The secret to perfect creaminess
The secret lies in the final emulsion. Reserve some cooking water before draining the pasta al dente. Add it gradually to the pan while tossing, creating natural creaminess thanks to the pasta starch.
Tips for unforgettable spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili
- Cooking water is gold, keep some for the final creaminess
- Oil temperature: hot but not too hot, so the garlic doesn’t burn
- Al dente pasta is crucial for perfect texture
- Chili: adjust the amount to your heat tolerance
- Finish: a final drizzle of raw oil and finely chopped fresh parsley make the difference
Italian recipes you’ll love
- (in Spanish) Pasta alle vongole: The perfect combination of pasta and clams
- Pasta al pomodoro: The classic of classics
- (in Spanish) Pasta al tonno: Another quick and delicious recipe
Enjoy your spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chili!
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Buon appetito!
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The card
Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chili (Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino)
Ingredients
- 400 g good quality spaghetti preferably bronze-drawn
- 5 cloves garlic
- fresh chili to taste
- extra virgin olive oil generous amount
- fresh parsley
- salt
Instructions
- Boil plenty of salted water and cook the spaghetti until al dente.
- In a wide pan, heat extra virgin olive oil and add garlic (whole or sliced) with parsley sprigs to infuse the oil.
- Remove the parsley, then add the chili, watching carefully to prevent burning.
- Drain the pasta, reserving some cooking water.
- Toss the spaghetti in the flavored oil, adding reserved water gradually to create natural creaminess.
- Finish with a drizzle of raw olive oil and freshly chopped parsley before serving.
