This super easy chili oil pasta uses five super simple but ultra flavorful ingredients, and is inspired by a Chinese garlic chili oil noodle dish called Yo Po Mian.
I used to eat at a really incredible hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens called Uncle Zhao’s where they had a dish that was one of the simplest but most flavorful dishes I’ve ever had. They called it called “dial” oil noodles, and to this day I don’t know what “dial” oil actually means (as the restaurant has since closed). But after much research I finally realized that what the dish actually was: Yo Po Mian, a dish from the Shaanxi Province that’s made by heating oil and then pouring it over noodles that have been topped with a host of aromatic and flavorful ingredients like garlic and chilis. Essentially the hot oil “blooms” those aromatics, opening up their flavors. This 5 ingredient chili oil pasta is my Italian spin on that dish, made with the Italian aromatics of garlic, rosemary, Calabrian chilis and lemon zest.
There really is something magical about this chili oil pasta dish. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a simpler but more boldly flavored pasta dish. The only ingredients you’ll need are garlic, Calabrian chilis (I had some left over from my Calabrian Chili Butter, but you can find them online), rosemary, lemon zest, and pasta. (I’m not counting olive oil since it’s something that we all have by default in our kitchens, but you’ll need that as well.) Simply boil up the pasta and top it with the aromatics. Then the magic comes in heating up the olive oil until it’s shimmering and pouring it directly over those aromatics. It will cook the garlic, and bloom the rosemary, chilis and lemon zest, opening up them up and intensifying their flavors. It is simple enough to make in less than 15 minutes, but flavorful enough to impress any crowd.
A PLAY ON A CHILDHOOD FAVORITE
A traditional Chinese noodle dish may have inspired this five ingredient chili oil pasta, but I’ve come to realize that it’s also a play on a childhood favorite of mine: pasta with garlic and oil. Growing up, pasta with garlic and oil was “picky eater” food in my grandparent’s house. It’s kind of a long story, but let’s just say that as a little kid my brother once had a bad experience with a very rancid jar of tomato sauce, and it took him a very long time to get over a tomato sauce aversion. So every Sunday when my grandfather would make the traditional pasta-with-gravy Sunday meal, he would make a separate batch of simple pasta with garlic and oil for my brother.
I didn’t have a tomato sauce aversion, but I would always ask for a plate of “half and half” – half pasta with gravy, half with garlic and oil – because I loved the simplicity yet boldness of pasta with garlic and oil so much. And this chili oil pasta dish, while updated slightly with the addition of more flavorful aromatics, brings me right back to those Sunday dishes of my childhood.
5 Ingredient Chili Oil Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta of choice (I prefer a long noodle like spaghetti or linguini for this dish)
- 3 tbsp lemon zest
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced or zest
- 3 tbsp Calabrian chilis packed in oil (you can add more for more spice)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- salt
- parmesan or pecorino romano for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook pasta according to package instructions (I always cook it a few minutes less for a good al dente pasta).
- While the pasta cooks, prep your aromatics. Then use a small sauce pan to heat the oil over medium heat until it is shimmering. You can also test the oil's readiness by placing a wooden chopstick or toothpick in it – it should bubble.
- Once the pasta is cooked and drained, transfer it back to the pot you cooked it in. Top it with the rosemary, chilis, garlic and lemon zest -try to pile the ingredients up in one area. Then slowly pour the hot oil over the aromatics, allowing the garlic to cook. Toss the pasta to evenly distribute everything and season with more salt as needed. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese and drizzle of fresh lemon.
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