Arrabbiata (angry sauce)

I know some of you out there who are huge italian cuisine diners may have came across this sauce called Arrabbiata. Traditionally, Arrabbiata is served with Penne Rigate. There are two types of penne which is Penne Rigate (ridged) and Penne Lisce (smooth). Why Penne Rigate? because penne is a tubular shaped pasta which holds the sauce and the ridged sides holds up more. 

Arrabbiata, literally translated in Italian means "angry" and why so is this sauce called angry sauce?

Because of its fiery hot chili pepper flakes added into the sauce. Now that's some fiery hot goodness. 

The best part, it is so simple to get this sauce done for your meal. 

First you're gonna need

1. Pancetta (italian bacon) but if you don't have it, like me, i use bacon.

2. Finely chopped garlic ( i use about 3 cloves for myself because i simply love garlic)

3. Dried chili pepper flakes ( you can also use the ones that the pizza delivery gives you. The ones in the small packets)

4. Parsley. (Traditionally they use basil but parsley gives it a more earthy taste to the sauce) use dried parsley or fresh. It's up to your taste

5. Italian Tomato Passata (Passata is basically ripe tomatoes, pureed and sieved to remove the skin and seed. Some form of it comes in smooth and as for me, i got mine from Marks and Spencer which is chunky)

You can always use any regular tomato puree or the ones with the peeled whole canned tomatoes but invest in the quality and sweetness of the tomatoes from Italy for it  makes a whole lot of difference. 

6. Olive oil. Salt and Pepper. 

So lets get it going

Start off by frying the pancetta, or bacon with your small amount of olive oil

By doing this, it releases the natural oils from the fats. This is why you don't need to use a lot of olive oil. Plus it gives good flavor too. 

Next step, add in the minced garlic, give it a good sweat (DONT BURN IT) garlic tends to burn really fast. 

Throw in your pepper flakes, give it a good stir to release the heat and add in the tomato passata or your regular canned tomato puree. 

*I always boil my pasta while im doing my sauce so when it comes to this stage, i take a little of the pasta water that is used to boil the pasta, add in a little to give the sauce a nice thickness to it for the water contains starches from the pasta.

Add in salt and pepper, up to your taste. A hint of sugar. ( yes, especially for the regular tomato puree users, sugar does balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.)

Let the sauce boil to the thickness that you like, add in the parsley flakes or your fresh parsley or your fresh basil. Give it a good stir and you're done. 

Because i do not have any penne rigate with me for now, im using Spaghetti. 

You can top it off with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and more parsley.

 Or just have it plainly with its sauce and pasta itself. 

 Owh, i don't do measurements for my recipes. Go by taste, follow your heart and just enjoy cooking. 

Till then.