Aglio e Olio

The ten-minute pantry dinner. Everything depends on not letting the garlic go past gold.

Prep
5m
Cook
12m
Total
17m
Serves
2
Effort
Easy
Scale
2
Units

Method

Aglio e Olio — recipe grid
1/3 cup 1 Warm the garlic gently until pale gold 6m Low heat, 5 minutes. The moment it browns it turns acrid. 3 Toss hard over low heat until the sauce turns creamy 2m The starch and oil emulsify as you toss. Keep it moving.
6 cloves
1 tsp
200 g 2 Boil until al dente, saving a mug of water 9m
2 tsp
1/2 cup
a handful
30 g
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 17m of hands-on and cooking time.

Sliced, not crushed

Crushed garlic has far more cut surface and burns in seconds; slices brown evenly and can be watched. Since burnt garlic is the only way this dish fails, that is worth the extra thirty seconds with a knife.

Notes

  • Salt the water properly. There is nothing else seasoning this dish.
  • Reserve more water than you think. The emulsion wants adding in stages.
  • A tin of anchovies melted into the oil makes it a different and very good dish, but no longer vegan.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.