Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino (vegan)

Whilst going through recipes for various food that are on rotation in our household, I decided to start from the foundation, and specifically, those from my husband Alberto’s ‘midnight kitchen.’ These are canonical Italian pasta dishes, but adapted using ingredients readily available here in Australia and simplified so that he can easily whip them up after a long day working as a pizza chef.

The basic recipes, therefore, are meant to be quick, easy and economical, utilising pantry staples. This first one is deeply satisfying with only a handful of ingredients! This is Italian cuisine at its peak simplicity.

Using the same techniques, however, it is possible to elevate your plate to dinner-party-status with a few special additions (please see the heading titled “Jazz it up!”)

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

200 g dry spaghetti

100 ml extra virgin olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, crushed with core removed

10 g dried chilli pepper, chopped (or chilli flakes)

20 g fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped with a sharp knife so as not to bruise the leaves

30 g fine sea salt (for cooking the pasta)

Method

1. Bring 2 litres of water to a rolling boil in a large pot, and as it comes to a boil, salt it more than you usually do with pasta. Add the spaghetti, return to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions until al dente (soft enough to eat, but with a bite– try one piece a minute or two earlier, or at the most conservative estimate if the cooking time is offered as a range).

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil, chilli and garlic in a large frying pan at low heat to infuse the oil with flavour and aromas. If the spaghetti still have a few minutes to go, you can add a bit of the pasta water to the pan to stop the chilli and garlic from burning. Remove the garlic chunks.

3. Drain the cooked spaghetti but retain some of the cooking water in a spare vessel. Transfer the spaghetti to the pan, together with a ladleful of the pasta water. Toss rigorously to emulsify the oil and water until creamy. Quickly taste and correct for seasoning, as there is no salt in this sauce.

4. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle the parsley on top and serve immediately.

Notes

To emulsify or not to emulsify, that is the question. Ideally, the pungent oil plus the starch released by the pasta into the cooking water combine into a creamy sauce that coats each strand. Easier said than done, though–this is arguably the most challenging aspect of a great pasta dish. The good news is that I have a number of ‘hacks’ to offer. Here goes:

1. Some chefs insist that this dish in fact need not reach a creamy consistency, and that an oily slick is fine (as long as the sauce is not watery or dry). Just mop up the remnants with some bread (there is a word for this– "scarpetta", literally, 'little shoe')!

2. But if you are intent on nailing a sauce that is silky without actually adding cream, please find below some possible tweaks to the process:

   1. For the emulsion to work, you actually need a high ratio of starchy water to oil. Mash the garlic into a paste, and in Step 2 above, add a bit of the cooking water into the pan early on so that you are essentially stewing the garlic and chilli. This is also a good opportunity to utilise the parsley stalks that would otherwise go to waste (they will need to be removed after the infusion). In this method, you will actually be consuming the garlic, so you may need less of it;

   2. Use less water to boil the pasta, so that the resulting pasta water is thicker in starch. Note that if the pasta doesn't have space to freely swim around, it will require more stirring (particularly at the beginning) so that it cooks evenly without sticking together;

   3. You can try boiling the pasta for a shorter time, so that you finish cooking it in the pan for a minute or two (as in the Spaghetti alle Vongole recipe below); or

   4. If all this tossing in the pan is too hard on your wrists, opt for a pot instead and mix rigorously so that the pasta rubs against each other.

3. If all else fails, additions can help! Alberto, who is from the north of Italy, is known to throw a knob of butter in. Done! Hailing from Japan, I like to rely on a bit of marine-based collagen such as fried anchovy, katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), or seaweed.

Jazz it up!

• You can play around with this recipe, depending on your mood and what is available in your kitchen. For example, 1 garlic clove per head renders a mild version, whilst you can use 3 cloves between 2 people for a stronger taste. It also depends on the quality and size of the garlic cloves, of course!

• The amount of chilli and parsley is really about your preference too. If you have a whole dried chilli pepper, cut lengthwise and discard the seeds. This way, you can remove the chilli along with the garlic once the oil is infused, resulting in a more elegant finish. Cracked black pepper and/ or grated organic lemon zest at the end will add an additional kick.

• The only caveat is that you must remember to balance the sodium content. For example, if you are grating bottarga (dried mullet roe) on top, you would not salt the pasta water as liberally.

• One variation that I adore is what we call ‘Midnight pasta’, using an array of herbs from the garden. Hardy herbs such as rosemary and sage can be infused into the oil in Step 2 above, together with the garlic (chilli becomes optional here), then fished out of the pan. As for fresh basil and flat-leaf parsley, you can add some to the oil right before the pasta, with the rest scattered on top at the end. Toasted breadcrumbs and pine nuts add a nice crunch as well.

• The aglio, olio e peperoncino base is very popular in Japan and referred to as an “oil-based” sauce, or often just “peperoncino” for short. Chefs in Italian restaurants create original takes topped with local, seasonal ingredients such as fresh baby sardines and Mizuna. A classic Italian variation would be Spaghetti alla Vongole, shared below.

Spaghetti alle Vongole (pescatarian, dairy-free)

Ingredients

Serves 2

Same for Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino above, plus:

20 live clams in their shells

5 cherry tomatoes, halved

30 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus some to drizzle on top

1 peeled and smashed garlic clove

80 ml of dry white wine/ sake

30 g fine sea salt

20 g fresh flat leaf parsley

Ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fill a large bowl with 1 litre water and 30 grams of salt (it should almost taste like the ocean) and add the clams. Let stand for at least an hour to eliminate the sand. Drain and rinse several times until there is no sand left. Scrub the shells if necessary. Discard any clams that stay open.

2. In a large frying pan, heat 30 ml of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the clams, the garlic, the wine, and some freshly ground black pepper. Cover and steam for a few minutes until all the clams have opened, but no more, so as not to overcook them.

3. Remove from the heat and set the clams aside. Strain the remaining cooking juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl.

4. Follow the aglio olio e peperoncino recipe above, reserving some cooking water from the pasta pot. Once the spaghetti is almost cooked (ie when you bite off a piece, there is still a narrow white core), drain and transfer them to the pan, together with the clam juice, some chopped parsley and the tomatoes. Toss over low heat to finish cooking the spaghetti in the clam juices for a minute or two.

5. Add the clams. Once integrated, quickly taste and adjust for salt (on the off chance that the spaghetti is still undercooked, you can add a bit of pasta water and turn up the heat).

6. Transfer to a serving platter. Add a drizzle of olive oil, scatter the rest of the chopped parsley on top and serve immediately.

We would love to see what variations you've come up with! Please leave a comment or tag me on social media (@xoxo_miso_girl)