Penne Arrabbiata
A classic spicy Italian tomato sauce tossed with penne, garlic, red pepper flakes, and grated cheese.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
Ingredients
- ?1 14-ounce can(400 g)whole peeled tomatoes
- ?2 tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil
- ?1 tablespoontomato paste
- ?1 clovegarlicminced or crushed
- ?1/2 teaspoonred pepper flakes
- ?1/2 teaspoonpaprika
- ?1/2 teaspoonsalt
- ?1/4 teaspoonground black pepper
- ?1/4 cupparmesan cheese or pecorino romanograted plus extra for serving
- ?8 oz 225 gpenne pasta
- ?5 fresh basil leaveschiffonaded
Instructions
Instructions
- Bring a medium saucepan to medium heat and add the 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.
- Add 1 tablespoon tomato paste, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until the paste darkens to a deep red.
- Add the 1 clove minced or crushed garlic and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds until fragrant (do not let the garlic burn).
- Pour in the 1 (14-ounce/400 g) can whole peeled tomatoes. Break the tomatoes down with a wooden spoon and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened, about 10 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt (to taste), and cook the 8 oz (225 g) penne pasta according to the package instructions until just al dente. Before draining, reserve some of the hot pasta cooking water.
- Drain the pasta and add it directly to the tomato sauce. Toss or stir to combine, adding a little of the reserved pasta water as needed to reach your preferred sauce consistency.
- Add the ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (or pecorino romano) to the pasta and sauce, and stir until the cheese melts and the sauce becomes creamy.
- Stir in the 5 chiffonaded fresh basil leaves (or reserve a few for garnish), taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then serve warm with extra grated parmesan cheese.
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Large Pot
- Wooden Spoon
- Colander
Notes
This recipe uses 3 types of pepper, ground black pepper, red chili, and paprika. This gives you a moderate amount of heat, it’s warm but not overpowering. But if you prefer a really angry pasta, you canmake it as furious as you’d like by adding more red chilies.
Feel free to add more garlic, I usually use just 1 or 2 large cloves, but adding more will give a garlicky flavor which is also great.
You can use other shapes of short pasta in this dish, but I don’t recommend long shapes such as spaghetti or linguine as the sauce won’t be captured very well and will simply slide off the pasta.
The pasta water is starchy and perfect to thicken pasta sauces, and sometimes to thin out sauces when they dry out. Best to use it instead of normal water, it’s a traditional Italian technique used in cooking pasta.
Servewith extra grated parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil if you like, and garnish with freshly chopped basil leaves or parsley leaves (or both!).
Fridge– store pasta arrabbiata in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Reheat –pasta with sauce always dries out when refrigerated overnight. For the best reheating option, add a splash of water to the pasta then microwave, toss well.
Freeze– I don’t recommend freezing the pasta, but you can make a batch of arrabbiata sauce and freeze it in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Reheat it in a small saucepan on low heat, and toss it with pasta to serve.
Nutrition –is per portion.
Feel free to add more garlic, I usually use just 1 or 2 large cloves, but adding more will give a garlicky flavor which is also great.
You can use other shapes of short pasta in this dish, but I don’t recommend long shapes such as spaghetti or linguine as the sauce won’t be captured very well and will simply slide off the pasta.
The pasta water is starchy and perfect to thicken pasta sauces, and sometimes to thin out sauces when they dry out. Best to use it instead of normal water, it’s a traditional Italian technique used in cooking pasta.
Servewith extra grated parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil if you like, and garnish with freshly chopped basil leaves or parsley leaves (or both!).
Fridge– store pasta arrabbiata in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Reheat –pasta with sauce always dries out when refrigerated overnight. For the best reheating option, add a splash of water to the pasta then microwave, toss well.
Freeze– I don’t recommend freezing the pasta, but you can make a batch of arrabbiata sauce and freeze it in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Reheat it in a small saucepan on low heat, and toss it with pasta to serve.
Nutrition –is per portion.