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You are here: Home / Main dish / Midnight Spaghetti Recipe

Midnight Spaghetti Recipe

April 15, 2018 By Joe Boyle 5 Comments

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Last Updated on September 15, 2024

If you’re in Naples, Italy with a group of friends out for the night, you might invite them all over to your place and make Midnight Spaghetti, or Spaghetti Aglio E Olio.

Midnight spaghetti recipe with grated parmesan on a plate.

Jump To Contents:

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  • What is Midnight Spaghetti?
  • Making the Spaghetti Dish
  • Finishing The Recipe
  • Midnight Spaghetti Recipe

What is Midnight Spaghetti?

Spaghetti pasta recipe is just garlic, olive oil, and pasta mixed together for a quick meal or snack. This spaghetti recipe, adapted from Saveur magazine, is a kicked-up, adult version of this and makes a full-blown meal.

Get ready to see how this late night pasta dish gets taken to Flavor Town.

Lots of garlic and red pepper in a skillet.

Making the Spaghetti Dish

First off, peperoncini or crushed red chile pepper flakes get added to the extra virgin olive oil and slivered garlic. One half to one teaspoon gives a nice amount of spiciness and mouth feel.

I saw one recipe that called for 1 tablespoon of pepper flakes…now that would get your attention. Make sure you’ve got some cold milk ready after you eat that!

I used 1/2 teaspoon in this batch and the heat was just slightly noticeable. I’d recommend using more than this if you like things hotter.

Anchovies added to the skillet with the garlic.

Next, the anchovies. I know some folks are squeamish when it comes to this salty fish, but midnight spaghetti would be nothing special without them.

The fact of the matter is, you can’t taste them in the finished dish. They just add loads of umami and smooth out the acidity of the tomatoes.

I used 8 fillets and a tablespoon of the oil they are packed in. After 4 or 5 minutes in the hot skillet, they can be broken down and dissolved into the oil.

Add the capers to the same skillet with the garlic and anchovy.

Capers are also a welcome addition to just about any recipe. They give an instant pop of flavor and are delicious in the tomato sauce. Just drain them but don’t rinse them as some recipes tell you to do.

You want the salt that’s prevalent in the capers.

Tomatoes are added to make the sauce right in the skillet.

The tomatoes I used were peeled, whole San Marzano, 28-ounce can, which were pureed in a food processor. San Marzano’s seem to have more flavor than your standard crushed or diced tomatoes and I prefer them in Italian recipes.

Finishing The Recipe

As you can see, this is a lot of sauce…plenty for 6 or more people when combined with enough pasta. Especially if it served as an after-party midnight spaghetti snack.

A full pound of cooked pasta should work for this. You’ll most likely need a deeper skillet to toss this together.

Cheese and parsley are added last to the skillet.

Fresh parsley and some grated parmesan or pecorino romano are stirred in before adding the pasta.

Midnight spaghetti sauce in a skillet ready to serve.

This is the midnight spaghetti with 5 ounces of cooked pasta. We ate this and had a pint of leftover sauce which I froze for another meal.

I’ve only seen whole San Marzano tomatoes in 28-ounce cans which is what I used. A batch of this made with a 14.5-ounce can of tomatoes would be enough for 2 to 3 people.

Plated Midnight spaghetti recipe.

The toasted baguette was rubbed with a garlic clove and pulsed into crumbs in a food processor.

This is a nice additional textural element in the midnight pasta recipe. Finish the dish with a bit more cheese.

The last thing to do is to drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil over the pasta. The flavors really pop when you do this.

Plated midnight spaghetti close-up.

Make midnight spaghetti as a main course or as a late-night pasta snack. The complexity of flavors is amazing.

You might like to look at these pasta dishes too:

  • Shrimp Mac and Cheese
  • Tomato Spinach Pasta with Spicy Shrimp
  • Pasta with Roma Tomatoes and Shrimp Sauce
  • Shrimp Penne with Vodka Sauce
  • Perfect Shrimp Scampi
Plate of spaghetti with bread crumbs and cheese.

Midnight Spaghetti Recipe

Pasta main course or a late night snack for a group of friends.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate Save Saved Recipe
Course: Pasta main dish
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: midnight spaghetti
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 414kcal
Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

  • 1 lbs spaghetti or other pasta, cooked al dente
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, slivered
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 8 anchovies and 1 tbsp of the packing oil
  • 28 oz. Whole San Marzano tomatoes, pureed in food processor
  • 1/3 cup drained capers
  • 1 1/2 oz parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • toasted, crumbed baguette if desired
  • extra virgin olive oil for final drizzle on the pasta
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Instructions

  • Cook pasta in salted water until it is al dente according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. 
  • In a large skillet, add olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes then add the anchovies and packing oil. Cook 4 or 5 minutes and use a fork to break up and dissolve the anchovies. 
  • Add the tomatoes and capers and cook until slightly thickened, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup of parmesan, and the parsley. Stir to melt the cheese. Then add the cooked pasta and toss to combine.
  • If desired, slice a baguette into 3 or 4, 1/2" slices and place 6 to 8 inches under a broiler to toast. Turn and toast the second side. Watch the bread closely as it browns fast and will burn easily. Rub both sides of the toast with a garlic clove, then crumb by hand or by pulsing in a food processor.
  • Serve the midnight spaghetti with bread crumbs, parmesan, and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Notes

  1. Adapted from Saveur magazine.

Nutrition

Calories: 414kcal
 

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Filed Under: Main dish, Pasta

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alan Howie

    April 21, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    5 stars
    Excellent combination of a few simple ingredients. I especially like the anchovies.

    Reply
  2. Eileen Herbert

    April 21, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    5 stars
    How many and what kind of tomatoes?

    Reply
    • Joe

      April 21, 2018 at 3:35 pm

      Hey Eileen, I used one, 28 ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, pureed in a food processor.

      Reply
  3. MaryJo

    April 17, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    5 stars
    Buy King Oscar anchovies, they’re the best. And this dish is outstanding!!

    Reply
  4. Amy

    April 16, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    5 stars
    Looks delicious! I’m putting it on my list of dinners to make very soon!

    Reply
5 from 4 votes

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