Ingredients

  • 200g spaghetti
  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 80ml good olive oil
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes (or more)
  • Large handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Parmesan, to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve a mug of pasta water before draining.

  2. While the pasta cooks, warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook slowly — you want it golden and fragrant, not brown. About 5 minutes.

  3. Add the chilli flakes, stir for 30 seconds, then add a splash of pasta water. It will hiss and emulsify.

  4. Add the drained pasta directly to the pan. Toss over medium heat, adding pasta water a little at a time, until the sauce coats every strand and looks glossy rather than greasy. About 2 minutes.

  5. Off the heat, add the parsley and a generous grind of black pepper. Taste, adjust salt.

  6. Serve immediately. Parmesan if you want, though purists won’t.

Notes

The garlic is everything here — take your time with it. Too hot and it turns bitter; properly golden and it turns sweet and nutty.

Don’t skip the pasta water step. The starch is what makes it a sauce rather than oily noodles.