; ) is a traditional
Italian pasta dish from
Naples. It is a typical dish of
Neapolitan cuisine and is widely popular. Its popularity can be attributed to it being simple to prepare and the fact that it makes use of inexpensive, readily available ingredients that have long shelf lives in a pantry.
The dish was once also known as "vermicelli alla Borbonica" or also as "vermicelli con le ''vongole fujute''", when in the white version.
The dish is made by first lightly sautéing thinly sliced
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
in
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
, sometimes with the addition of
red pepper flakes (
dried chilli – in which case its name is ). The oil and garlic are then tossed with
spaghetti cooked in
salted
water. Finely chopped
Italian parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, P ...
is then commonly added as a
garnish. Although cheese is not included in most traditional recipes, grated
parmesan or
pecorino cheese can be added, similarly to
pasta allo scarpariello. Some recipes recommend adding some of the water from cooking pasta to the olive oil to create a sauce, but other recipes recommend simply pouring the oil onto the drained pasta, which doesn't create a sauce.
See also
*
List of Italian dishes
This is a list of Italian dishes and foods. Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BC. Italian cuisine has its origins in Etruscan, ancient Greek, and ancien ...
*
List of pasta dishes
*
References
External links
video of professional chef cooking spaghetti olio in restaurant
{{Cuisine of Italy
Spaghetti dishes
Neapolitan cuisine
Garlic dishes