arrabbiata sauce

The word arrabbiata is Italian for "in an angry mood", which describes perfectly the spicy, zingy flavor of a good arrabiata sauce.

One excellent recipe (gleaned from pastarecipe.com some months ago) follows:

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine or 2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes.
2. Stir in wine, sugar, basil, red pepper, tomato paste, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in parsley. Ladle over hot cooked pasta.

Arrabbiata, which is Italian for "pissed off," is a red pasta sauce with a bit of a kick. There are a number of varieties of arrabbiata sauce, but the essential component is a healthy dose of spicy peppers.

STEP ONE

The first order of business is to chop up the solid ingredients. Peel and mince the garlic. Finely chop the oregano and parsley together, and the basil separately. Finely chop the onion, or chop it in a food processor (if you do, mind that you don't liquefy it). IF you're using the habanero or serrano peppers — and neither of these is for the faint of palate— then slice them finely, leaving the white inner bit connected. It is the soft white inside that contains the capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the "heat" of hot peppers.

STEP TWO

Take a wok, stockpot, or saucier and put it on your range. Coat the bottom with a generous amount of olive oil, and sprinkle a few drops of water into the olive oil to make it easier to judge when the oil is ready. Turn the burner to HIGH.

Once the olive oil begins to sizzle, it's time to stir in the chopped onions. Add a teaspoon of kosher/sea salt. Stir them periodically until they start to become translucent. Then add the garlic, the oregano and parsley, the crushed red pepper, and, if you really want to, the serrano/habanero peppers. Stir this together, adding in the red wine and balsamic vinegar (to taste), as you go. Allow the mixture to simmer at medium heat for 10-20 minutes. Periodic sampling isn't a bad idea.

STEP THREE

Begin to stir in the diced/chopped tomatoes, making sure that they are uniformly distributed throughout the pot and thoroughly mixed with the other ingredients. Then, add the tomato paste, along with a generous amount of water to aid in its dissolution. Once this is all well stirred, stir in the tomato purée. Allow this mixture to simmer at low-to-medium heat for 15-30 minutes, sampling often. Add crushed red pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, and red wine to taste. Add the basil during the last minutes of simmering.

Traditionally, arrabbiata sauces are served over penne. However, fusilli, conchiglie (shells), or even thick spaghetti work well. Finely grate the parmigiano reggiano cheese and sprinkle over the finished product, to taste. TIP: if you want to flavour your sauce with parmigiano reggiano, use the rind of the cheese like a soup bone. This will give you the flavour without cutting into the cheese you want to sprinkle.

Other items in Élise's Culinodes

Quick vegetarian pasta sauce --=-- Bruschetta --=-- Sugo Napoli al balsamico