Oil and Garlic Sauces
Cooking Skills: Pasta 1
Chapter 4 · Oil and Garlic Sauces
Skill goal
Make a creamy sauce from oil and starchy pasta water, and finish the pasta in the pan.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Many of the best pasta sauces are made while the pasta cooks, in a frying pan, from a handful of ingredients. They depend on a technique, not a recipe: finishing the pasta in the sauce pan with some of its starchy cooking water.
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Start the sauce while the pasta cooks | Warm the oil, garlic and flavourings gently | The sauce is ready when the pasta is |
| Take the pasta out 1 to 2 minutes early | Lift with tongs, or drain and keep some water | It finishes cooking in the sauce and soaks up the flavour |
| Add starchy pasta water | 3 to 6 tablespoons, a splash at a time | Starch and water bind the oil into a creamy coating |
| Toss or stir vigorously | 1 to 2 minutes, over a medium heat | Shaking and stirring forms the emulsion |
| Add the delicate bits off the heat | Herbs, cheese, lemon juice | They stay fresh and don't clump or split |
If the sauce is oily and slippery, it needs more water and more tossing. If it is dry and sticky, it needs a little more water. If it is soupy, cook it for another 30 seconds, tossing, to let the water evaporate.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Aglio e olio (garlic and oil)
Garlic, oil, chilli and pasta water make a creamy sauce with nothing creamy in it. The oil and starchy water are whisked together by tossing, which is called an emulsion. If you can make this, you can finish any pasta in the pan.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 75 g dried spaghetti
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 pinch black pepper
- Put the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water, for the packet time minus 2 minutes.
- While it cooks, put the oil and sliced garlic in a wide frying pan over a low heat. Warm gently for 3 to 4 minutes, until the garlic is just pale gold and fragrant. Stir in the chilli. If the garlic browns, pour in a splash of pasta water straight away to stop it.
- Lift the spaghetti straight from its water with tongs into the frying pan (a little water comes with it, which is what you want). Add 4 tablespoons of the pasta water.
- Over a medium heat, toss and stir vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes, adding a tablespoon of water at a time if it looks dry, until the sauce turns slightly creamy and clings to every strand.
- Take off the heat, add the parsley and pepper, and eat at once.
The golden rule
Garlic should be golden at most. Brown garlic is bitter, and in this sauce there is nothing to hide it.
Level 2 · Vegetable
Broccoli and chilli pasta
The broccoli cooks in the same water as the pasta, then is crushed into the sauce, so the vegetable becomes part of it.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 75 g dried orecchiette or penne
- 150 g broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 anchovy fillets (optional)
- 15 g parmesan, grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Boil the pasta in salted water. Add the broccoli for the last 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm the oil with the garlic, chilli and anchovies (if using) in a wide frying pan over a low heat for 2 minutes, until the anchovies melt.
- Scoop out a mugful of water, then drain the pasta and broccoli together and tip them into the frying pan with 4 tablespoons of the cooking water.
- Toss over a medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, crushing the broccoli with the back of a spoon so it breaks into the sauce. Off the heat, add the parmesan and lemon juice.
Level 2 · Fresh
Courgette and lemon pasta
Courgettes are watery. The trick is to fry them in a hot pan so they brown and sweeten, instead of steaming into mush.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 75 g dried linguine or spaghetti
- 1 medium courgette (about 150 g), halved lengthways and thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- ½ lemon, zest and 1 tsp juice
- 20 g parmesan, grated
- 1 tbsp chopped mint or basil
- Boil the linguine in salted water for the packet time minus 1 minute.
- Heat the oil and butter in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the courgette in a single layer and fry for 6 to 8 minutes without moving it too much, until golden at the edges. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds.
- Scoop out a mugful of pasta water, then drain. Add the pasta to the courgettes with 4 tablespoons of the water, the lemon zest and juice.
- Toss for 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the parmesan and herbs.
Level 3 · Earthy
Mushroom and thyme pasta
Like courgettes, mushrooms hold a lot of water. Brown them hard first, and don't add salt until they have coloured, which draws the water out too soon.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 75 g dried tagliatelle or fettuccine (a nest)
- 150 g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 thyme sprigs, leaves only
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 15 g parmesan, grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Boil the tagliatelle in salted water for the packet time minus 1 minute.
- Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and leave them alone for 3 minutes, then stir and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden. Add the butter, garlic and thyme for the last minute.
- Scoop out a mugful of water, drain the pasta and add it to the mushrooms with 4 tablespoons of the water.
- Toss for 1 to 2 minutes until glossy. Off the heat, add the parsley, parmesan and lemon juice.
Experiments
Experiment
Sauce in the pan, or poured on top
Does finishing the pasta in the pan matter?
- Make aglio e olio twice. In the first, finish the pasta in the pan with pasta water as in the recipe. In the second, drain the pasta, put it on a plate and spoon the garlic oil over the top.
- Eat both straight away.
Look for: In the first, the oil clings to every strand and tastes creamy. In the second, the oil slides off to the bottom of the plate. This is the whole lesson of this chapter.
Experiment
How much pasta water
Learn to judge the emulsion.
- Make aglio e olio three times, adding 0, 3 and 8 tablespoons of pasta water in the final toss.
- Compare the look and taste of each.
Look for: With none, the pasta is oily and dry. With 3 tablespoons it is just right. With 8 it may be watery. The right amount depends on the pan.
Experiment
Garlic: sliced, crushed or whole
Which garlic suits this sauce?
- Make aglio e olio with garlic sliced thinly, crushed and whole (lightly smashed, taken out of the oil before serving).
- Taste each, thinking about how strong the garlic is, and how much of it burned.
Look for: Crushed garlic is the strongest and burns the fastest. Sliced is the usual choice. Whole is the mildest and sweetest.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aglio e olio | ||||
| Broccoli and chilli | ||||
| Courgette and lemon | ||||
| Mushroom and thyme | ||||
| Pan vs poured on top | ||||
| 0, 3 and 8 tbsp of water | ||||
| Garlic: sliced, crushed, whole |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Oily and slippery | Not enough pasta water, or not tossed | Add water, a spoonful at a time, and toss harder |
| Dry and clumpy | Too little water or too long on the heat | Add a splash of water and toss |
| Watery | Too much water | Cook, tossing, for another 30 seconds |
| Bitter garlic | Garlic browned | Start again; keep the heat low and add a splash of water if it colours |
| Courgettes or mushrooms soggy | Pan too crowded or too cool | Use a bigger pan, a higher heat and cook in batches |
| Bland | Water not salted, or no acid | Salt the pasta water; finish with lemon juice or parmesan |
Food safety: hot oil
A pan of hot oil and garlic can spit and catch fire if left unattended. Keep the heat low, never walk away, and keep a lid nearby to smother the pan if the oil smokes. These sauces are best eaten at once: Cooked pasta is a starchy food, and like rice it can grow bacteria if it is left warm. There is no pasta-specific official guidance, so this course uses the cautious rule: cool it quickly (within about an hour), put it in the fridge, and eat it within 24 hours; freeze it if you won't. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can warm garlic in oil without burning it.
- I can build a creamy sauce from oil and pasta water.
- I know why the pasta goes into the pan early.
- I can brown vegetables so they don't go soggy.
- I can tell when the sauce is the right thickness.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Pasta 1, chapter 5 is Cream, Cheese and Egg Sauces: cacio e pepe, lemon and parmesan cream, carbonara and spinach and ricotta, without splitting or scrambling.