Penne Arrabbiata
Penne Arrabbiata is a simple and delicious Italian pasta dish that you can make in just 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce can) (400g) whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic minced or crushed
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese or pecorino romano grated, plus extra for serving
- 8 oz (225g) penne pasta
- 5 fresh basil leaves chiffonaded
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat oil, tomato paste, garlic, pepper flakes, paprika, and salt, while stirring occasionally. Cook for 6-7 minutes or until you get a deep red colored sauce.
- Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, breaking the tomatoes down with a wooden spoon as they cook. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook the penne in salted water according to the package instructions until just "al dente". Reserve pasta water in case you need to use it later.
- Drain the cooked pasta, and add it to the tomato sauce. If needed, adjust the consistency by adding reserved pasta water.
- Add the parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, and stir a few times until it melts.
- Garnish with chopped basil and/or parsley leaves, serve warm with extra parmesan cheese.
Video
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 can make 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.
- Serve with 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 573mg | Potassium: 355mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 450IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 2mg
Find it online: https://littlesunnykitchen.com/penne-arrabbiata/