The basic sauce for spaghetti aglio e olio can be made in several ways.
A few of them:
Variation 1: add some anchovies (6 salted fillets, washed and cut into pieces) to the garlic and oil, add a handful of black or green olives cut into pieces, and sauté together until golden brown.
Variation 2 (Southern Italy): brown 3-4 tbs of bread crumbs in oil and garlic, add some more peperoncino to taste just before sautéing with the pasta.
Variation 3: add a couple of fresh tomatoes to the boiling oil after frying the garlic.
