Description: Classic aglio e olio peperoncino with olives.
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• Spaghetti – 180g
• Extra Virgin olive oil – 2 tablespoons
• Garlic cloves – chopped, 3 loves
• Fresh parsley – 2 tablespoons
• Pitted olives – 10 pieces or 15g
• Ground black pepper – 2 dashes
• Salt – 2 dashes
• Chilli (dry) – chopped, 2 pieces
• Parmesan cheese – 10g

Method

1. Follow the package instructions to cook the spaghetti to al dente in plenty of boiling water with salt.
2. When the spaghetti is almost cooked, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over low heat and cook the garlic and chilli for 30 seconds. (if you like crispy garlic, cook a bit longer, leave them aside and sprinkle before serving). 
3. Add the pasta, olives and parsley to the pan. Mix well.
To serve: sprinkle ground black pepper and parmesan cheese.

Nutritional Values Per Serving

Kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Fibre	Sugars	Salt	Saturated Fat
478.6	13.4g	17.7g	68.7g	3.6g	1.9g	0.7g	1.1g
23.9%	26.9%	25.2%	26.4%	12.0%	2.2%	11.5%	5.3%

Nutritional Tips

Spaghetti aglio e olio peperoncino is one of the classic Italian pasta (from Naples). It means garlic and oil spaghetti. So the ingredients are fairly simple, mainly garlic and olive oil. Some may add chilli, parsley and parmesan cheese.

You can try it at home 🙂 

Garlic is a plant of the onion (Allium) family. Allicin is a compound of garlic and it is responsible for its smell. When the garlic is crushed or chopped, it is produced. Some enjoy the smell while others do not. Allicin is formed by the action of alliinase (the enzyme) on alliin. 

Interestingly, alicin compounds are believed to have a defensive effect (e.g. insects) and this reminds me of my grandmother adding garlic cloves to a bag of rice in order to protect them from bugs.