This is a dish I learned to make while living in Italy: spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and chili pepper. It is always nourishing, always available, and I’ve learned something new from it each time – the parable of pastas.
This is a blue Christmas for me – the absence of my grandparents will be felt at the table.
In particular, I will be missing my abuelita. Italian by birth, she lived with immense gusto – especially for food!
At her memorial in November, I told about how she described the snow that fell in Loma Linda a few years ago. I asked her if she had gone outside to see it, and she replied: “me la comía del cielo!” – “I ate it from the sky!” She taught me to welcome what falls from heaven with an open mouth; to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8).
This dish reminds me that I am never truly alone – my Master sups with me, and provides everything I need.
Known also as pasta mezzanotte (“midnight pasta”), it is traditionally the pasta cooked when returning home late and famished, after restaurants and stores are closed. The sauce uses only five ingredients: garlic, chili flakes, olive oil, parsley, and parmesan cheese (pantry staples Italians always have on hand).
I live with my poodle, Roux, and have learned to keep the ingredients always handy. Because on the rare occasion I am out of olive oil, a totally benign craving can turn into a… gnashing of teeth! But when I have the materials I need, this dish is a feast for the senses from preparation to last bite.
In Matthew 14:15-20, Jesus feeds the five thousand. I found many parallels to this simple spaghetti in the story:
As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
One of my favorite things about this pasta is what it leaves behind – when you’ve eaten your last bite, don’t jump to wash the dish. You’ll find a puddle of garlicky, cheesy, peppery olive oil waiting at the bottom. Use it to dip bread, or toss in some chopped tomato and lettuce with squeezed lemon and salt to make a post-pasta salad! It can also be adjusted to scale – if you’re just feeding yourself (like me), use five tablespoons of olive oil, five large cloves of garlic, and a small handful of parsley.
May you eat and be satisfied this season; may you look up to heaven with an open mouth.
Buon appetito!
Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (full packet) dry spaghetti
- A head’s worth of garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Crushed red pepper flakes (however much you can handle!)
- 1/2 cup minced parsley
- Parmesan cheese (a wedge for fresh grating)
- Coarse salt (for the pasta water)
- Fine salt to taste (for the sauce)
Instructions:
Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a large handful of coarse salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package.
Step 2: Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a pot large enough to hold the pasta. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until it just begins to turn golden on the edges – don’t overcook it! The friend who taught me the dish called this moment “when the garlic begins to dance on top of the olive oil.” Add a half-ladleful of pasta water to the garlic and oil and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add a pinch of salt (remember the pasta water is salty, and you’ll add parmesan cheese), and let simmer for 3-5 minutes, reducing the liquid by 1/3. The mixture will become cloudy and emulsified as the starch and oil combine.
Step 3: Add the drained pasta to the garlic sauce and toss until the water has mostly evaporated (no water traces in the bottom of the pan while stirring). Take off the heat, add the parsley and toss.
Step 4: Serve (scraping the pan!) and add a fresh snowstorm of Parmesan to each dish.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/spaghetti-aglio-e-olio-recipe-2043225
Devin Tooma is a lover of Jesus, a poet, and “dog mom” to Roux the poodle.