Pasta all'Arrabbiata 🍝🌶️ Traditional Italian recipe

• 👩‍🍳 Easy
• ⏰ 25 min preparation
• 🤗 Guaranteed result

Ingredients

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Ingredient image	Ingredient name	Cups	Grams	Ounces
	Penne Rigate	11.29 oz	320 g
	Peeled tomatoes	14.1 oz	400 g
	Garlic	1 cloves
	Chilli pepper	2 peppers
	Parsley	1 sprigs
	Extra Virgin Olive Oil	2 teaspoons
	Salt	1 pinch

The Arrabbiata pasta sauce contains ingredients commonly used in Roman cuisine: tomatoes, chili pepper, parsley and Pecorino cheese.

• Tomatoes

  The classic Arrabbiata recipe uses whole peeled tomatoes, cut into large chunks. Many recommend using fresh tomatoes; but it's not always easy to find fresh and juicy tomatoes.

  An alternative is to use canned peeled tomatoes: in our recipe we include the variety San Marzano tomatoes, a D.O.P. of high quality produced in the area of Nocera, and which you will also find outside Italy.

  
  

• Hot pepper, fresh or dried

  Dried red chili pepper is usually hotter than fresh pepper: but not always, so in both cases you can use more than one chili in the Arrabbiata sauce.

  We recommend using fresh chilies if you have them. Dried chili pepper adds a different flavor to the sauce; it's a matter of taste, we at All Italian much prefer the taste of Arrabbiata with fresh hot pepper.

  
  

• Pecorino Romano DOP

  To complete the recipe, add a large amount of Pecorino Romano DOP to the pasta all'Arrabbiata. Pecorino cheese is one of the symbols of Rome's cuisine; even though the main producer of Pecorino is not the Lazio region, but Sardinia, where the sheep are raised.

  Pecorino appears in many other Italian recipes and pasta sauces: it is one of the main ingredients of Amatriciana and Carbonara.

  
  

• Parsley

  A classic addition to tomato sauce on pasta (and on Italian pizza) is basil.
  Parsley is an ingredient of Roman cuisine, used in Arrabbiata, and also in aglio olio e peperoncino pasta. Like basil, parsley should be added at the end of the preparation, before serving: fresh and not cooked with the sauce.

  If you experiment with different Italian herbs, you will find that they can significantly change the final taste of the sauce.

  
  

• Garlic or onion

  The original Arrabbiata recipe from Roman cuisine contains garlic; which, however, has a very strong taste and is not loved by everyone. Garlic has a strong flavor that goes well with the hot pepper in the tomato sauce.

  If you use garlic, it should be removed immediately before adding the tomato: it only serves to flavor the oil. Furthermore, the garlic should not be chopped, but left in cloves: otherwise the Arrabbiata sauce will have a garlic taste that is too dominant.

👉 The most common mistakes when you make the Arrabbiata pasta sauce:

• The sauce dries out during cooking

  In our recipe we prepare the Arrabbiata sauce while we cook the pasta. To cook both simultaneously, you will need to be a bit handy in calculating the cooking times of both the sauce and the pasta.

  The sauce is ready before the pasta, and you should keep it warm over a low heat. In this step, the tomato gradually loses water, making the sauce dry.
  To avoid this, occasionally add to the sauce a little pasta water: this is ideal for keeping the sauce diluted.

  👉 The cooking water contains starch, which makes our sauce creamy.

  
  

• The sauce is too spicy

  To be called Arrabbiata, it must be very spicy. In our recipe we use 2 pieces of peppers for 400g of sauce: not too much, not too little. Some versions of this recipe contain 3, which in our opinion may be too much.

  Eating a sauce that is too spicy is certainly not pleasant: with experience you will also be able to determine how spicy the sauce is, to your taste.

Instructions

1. Prepare the tomatoes

   Pour the contents of the peeled tomatoes into a bowl and cut them into large pieces. The classic Arrabbiata contains quite large pieces tomatoes, so you don't have to reduce them to a pulp.

   Prepare also the water for the pasta: it is better to cook pasta in enough water; even if the general indication is sufficient 1 quart / 1 liter of water for every 3.5 oz / 100 g of pasta.

   Turn on the heat under the pot. Also check out our recipe to cooking pasta al dente.

2. Saute the garlic

   Pour a little olive oil into a pan: you don't need much to make Arrabbiata sauce. Naturally, the more oil you add, the thicker the tomato sauce will become, but we always recommend not to overdo it.

   If using garlic, add a whole clove; if you don't like the taste of garlic, you can also use half chopped white onion.

   👉 Add the chili peppers, cut into small pieces.

   Saute the garlic in olive oil over low heat for a few minutes.

   

   
   

3. Add the tomatoes

   Pour the tomato into the pan, add a pinch of salt and mix well. Let the sauce cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally while you wait for the pasta water to boil.

   While the tomato is cooking, it is best to cover the pan with a lid.

   

   
   

4. Cook the pasta

   After 10 minutes the sauce is hot and the water starts to boil.

   Pour in the salt and when the water starts to boil again, pour in the pasta.

   While the pasta is cooking, let the sauce cook over low heat.

   Is the sauce getting a bit dry? Dilute it with a little salted water from the pasta pot.

   👉 Don't forget to remove the garlic.

   

   
   

5. Drain the pasta and combine it with the sauce

   The cooking time of the pasta is indicated on the packaging; we Italians don't have much faith, however, because it's hard to predict exactly when the pasta will be al dente. We recommend checking the cooking status of the pasta from time to time.

   When the pasta is ready, it is time to drain. You can use a colander, or a slotted spoon to pour the pasta directly into the pan with the sauce.

   Mix the pasta with the sauce for a minute, to combine them well.

   

   
   

6. Serving

   Only two ingredients are missing for serving, which must be added fresh: a few leaves of parsley and a generously grated Pecorino Romano.