Aglio e olio, done with Picual
This is the pasta dish that exposes everything. Bad oil and you're eating slick noodles. Good oil — really good oil — and suddenly four ingredients become a meal you'd serve to someone you're trying to impress. Picual brings the peppery backbone the dish was written for.
Ingredients
- 200g spaghetti or linguine
- 6 fat garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes (more if you like)
- 6 tbsp Andalusian Picual EVOO, plus more to finish
- Small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Method
- 01
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Drop the pasta.
- 02
Meanwhile, warm 5 tbsp of the Picual in a wide pan over low heat. Add the garlic. You are not frying it — you are coaxing it. Stop when the slices turn pale gold and smell sweet, about 4 minutes.
- 03
Add the chilli flakes, swirl, take off the heat.
- 04
When the pasta is 1 minute shy of al dente, lift it into the pan with tongs along with a ladle of starchy water. Toss hard for a minute over medium heat — the sauce should slick the noodles, not pool at the bottom.
- 05
Off heat, add the parsley and the last tablespoon of oil. Toss again. Salt, pepper, and serve in warmed bowls.