8
mins

Aglio e olio is as simple as pasta sauce gets. Oil and garlic is the base for almost every Italian pasta sauce; it is pasta sauce in its primal form. But how does oil and garlic even make pasta sauce? How can you get it to coat and stick to your pasta like most cream based and tomato based sauces do? The answer is simple, and it's a process that Sonny applies in his video very well: Emulsification. Unfamiliar? Chances are, you've encountered or even eaten emulsified foods before. Mayonnaise and vinaigrettes being the most common products of emulsion.

It's not an exaggeration to say that knowing that oil and water don't mix is common knowledge. These two types of molecules don't get along with each other, and needs a third ingredient to bind: an emulsifier. In this case, the starch in the pasta water acts as a binding agent and thickener. With the oil, garlic, and water together, you get a smooth, silky, and fine pasta sauce. Moral lesson here is: never throw out your pasta water!

Ingredient List.
  • 5 quarts water with 1/3 cup + 2 TBSP kosher salt
  • 12 oz Rustichella d'abruzzo dried pasta
  • 3/4 cup EVOO
  • 5-6 medium cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup finely chopped italian parsley
What others are saying.
"ok, i just need to save every one of your videos to a playlist and just work my way through them cooking- you seriously are the best teacher! You give such great tips and recipes while also being fun, interesting, and relatable. Keep up the great work, once people find you, your channel is going to explode!"

-mlfetterman