Spaghetti di Mezzanotte
When you've got nothing — pasta, olive oil, garlic, an egg cracked into the bowl.
Ingredients
- 100 g Pasta
- 1 Egg
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- ¼ tsp Red pepper flakes (optional)
Method
- Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil.
- Slice the garlic.
- Cook the pasta one minute shy of al dente (firm to the bite).
- While the pasta cooks, warm the oil with garlic and chili over low until golden, 2 minutes.
- Reserve a mugful of pasta water, then drain.
- Toss the drained pasta with the garlic oil. Crack the raw egg into the warm pasta and stir vigorously, loosening with a splash of pasta water, until creamy and coated.
- Finish with black pepper and serve.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Spaghetti di Mezzanotte
Spaghetti di mezzanotte — midnight pasta — is Italy's answer to the empty fridge: pasta, olive oil, garlic, chili, and an egg, thrown together late at night when there's nothing else in the house. It belongs to the same lineage as aglio e olio, the bare-cupboard Roman classic, but the raw egg cracked into the hot pasta pushes it toward a stripped-down, no-guanciale carbonara. The taste is warm and comforting — garlicky, gently spicy from red pepper flakes, and made silky and rich by the egg — while staying almost aggressively simple. It's food cooked for one, fast, with whatever is always on hand.
The whole trick is heat management: the garlic and chili are warmed slowly in olive oil until just golden so they perfume the oil without burning, and the raw egg is stirred vigorously into the pasta while it's still hot enough to lightly cook and coat, but not scramble. Because it's a single serving that comes together in about fifteen minutes, it's the definition of a quick late-night or solo dinner. Finish with a heavy hand of black pepper and eat it straight from the bowl. It's proof that the best midnight cooking is often the least ambitious.
Spaghetti di Mezzanotte: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Spaghetti di Mezzanotte?
A serving has about 702 calories — 20g protein, 78.3g carbs, 34.1g fat, 4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Spaghetti di Mezzanotte gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Pasta. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
How long does Spaghetti di Mezzanotte take to make?
About 20 minutes start to finish, but only around 7 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Spaghetti di Mezzanotte?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out red pepper flakes — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Spaghetti di Mezzanotte make?
This recipe makes 1 serving. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.