[drmpeg]

When I worked at LSI Logic in the 2000's, there were a lot of young Europeans (mostly Italian) on the staff. They had rented a house in Palo Alto which was affectionately called "The Pleasure Lounge".

It was just one of those houses that had the awesome party vibe. The only rule was that if you had to puke, you had to go in the back yard and do it in front of the Mother of Mary statue.

The best part was if you made it to 4 am, the Italians would break out the spaghetti, cook a big pot of it and serve it with just olive oil (no tomato sauce). Sitting around the kitchen table wicked hammered eating plain spaghetti is the correct way to end a party.

[lynx97]

Even when plain sober, I consider aglio e olio the best spaghetti there is.

[ashanoko]

At least no https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speibecken ?

[unnouinceput]

Spaghetti without tomato sauce? That's like pissing in the morning without farting. Sure, it'll get the main job done but it's not the same pure pleasure.

[hexbin010]

Cacio e Pepe, carbonara, spaghetti aglio e olio, spaghetti al vongole, white ragù

There's a whole world out there!

Tomato sauces can be acidic, so not great when drunk. Also tomatoes stain (if it were to come back up) !

[pcl]

Fwiw, you can neutralize tomato sauce with a little bit of baking soda. Start with a pinch, stir, wait thirty seconds, and taste to see if you need more.

[bigstrat2003]

Agreed that spaghetti sauce doesn't have to be tomato based. Just olive oil doesn't cut it, though - you need more than that.

[mrighele]

My guess is that the pasta mentioned above is spaghetti "aglio olio e peperoncino" (garlic, olive oil, red pepper), so not just olive oil.

Could be the recipe with the highest ratio taste/effort you can find, something that even a drunk student can pull off a 4 in the morning, so they probably just continued their tradition from the university years

[Arch-TK]

It was most likely garlic and olive oil (and salt and pasta water).

[andreareina]

Buttered noodles are good, I have no a priori reason that simple oil wouldn't be also.

[louistsi]

Butter emulsifies into a sauce just from the residual heat of the spaghetti (and some mechanical action - stirring, pan flip, etc)

Oil needs a bit more help, otherwise it's just grease on noodles. The starchy water the pasta was cooked in can do most of the heavy lifting there, but the addition of garlic helps too.

[7bit]

Why do I immediately think you must be American? Theres plenty of recipes without tomatosauce.

[bayindirh]

I eat spaghetti completely plain. Pot to plate, directly.