Penne Arrabbiata - Spicy Tomato Pasta
Penne all'arrabbiata is a pasta dish in a spicy tomato sauce. Quick and easy to make in under 30 minutes, this penne dish will become a staple when you're looking to add a little extra heat to your dishes!
Ingredients
- 250 grams penne rigate (penne with ridges)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1 garlic clove
- 4+ slices fresh chili pepper based on personal preference
- 1 14oz can peeled plum tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon parsley minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Boil water in a large pot for the pasta.
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Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pan. The pan should be big enough to fit the pasta when cooked and be able to mix it in the pan.
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Add the full garlic clove and the chili peppers to the oil.
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When the garlic clove is fragrant and sizzling, add the tomatoes to the pan, and add a bit of water to the can of tomatoes (about ¼ to ⅓ of a cup), and add this water to the pan too. Add salt and pepper.
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Cook the tomatoes on medium heat for about 20 minutes, until reduced.
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While sauce is cooking, bring the pot of water to a boil. Salt the pasta water. Add the penne to the pot and cook until al dente.
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When sauce is ready, remove the garlic clove. We're only using the garlic to add a bit of flavor, not overpower - it's a common Italian cooking technique.
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Add the penne to the sauce in the pan, still over medium heat. Mix the pasta with the sauce with a wooden spoon for a few minutes, until sauce is well absorbed into the pasta. Add a splash of pasta water if sauce needs to be loosened. Add a sprinkle of parsley and mix one more time.
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Plate, and top with more parsley. Add pecorino romano if desired.
Recipe Notes
- I used fresh red chili peppers to make this dish, but you can easily use dried chili peppers, or dried chili flakes.
- The amount of chili slices you add depends on how spicy your chili peppers are and how hot you prefer your pasta. The arrabbiata should have a good amount of spice to it, and it's based on personal preference as well.
- In this recipe, the whole garlic clove is removed before the pasta is added. This is because the garlic clove is meant to simply impart a subtle flavor to the sauce and not to overpower. This technique is common in Italian cooking. But if you prefer, you can mince the garlic in the beginning and keep it in the sauce.
- Some prefer to top the arrabbiata with pecorino when serving, and some prefer to leave it simple, without cheese, I've had it both ways. It's up to you!
- If you decide to top this dish with cheese and want to keep it traditional/authentic, the cheese to use is pecorino romano. Since penne all'arrabbiata is from Rome, pecorino romano is as well, so this is the natural choice of cheese. But of course, parmigiano reggiano works as well.
- It's important to finish cooking the penne in the sauce over heat. In this way, the pasta really absorbs the flavor of the sauce - this is how you get restaurant quality pasta at home.
- I used penne rigate in this recipe (with ridges), but you can also use penne lisce (smooth penne). As long as you use a bronze die extruded durum wheat semolina penne lisce, they will hold the sauce very well. Bronze die extruded pasta creates a gritty texture for the sauce to cling to.
- If the sauce needs to be loosened, feel free to add some pasta water to it.
- Even though penne is traditional in this dish, you can use any type of pasta you'd like. Rigatoni, spaghetti, fusilli, etc will also work well.