When it comes to pasta, there is no dish quite as simple yet bold and fiery as an arrabiata done well. It comes together in one pan with an intensely rich tomato sauce you’ll be sopping up with leftover bread. It’s proof that simplicity, done right, is downright delicious — you need just a handful of ingredients to make this easy arrabiata recipe, with freshness and quality of ingredients doing much of the work.
Simple Ingredients In This Arrabiata Recipe
- Pasta. Traditionally penne is used, as their ridges and hollow centre are apt for trapping a chunky, chilli-flecked sauce. Spaghetti, linguine or bucatini works if that’s what’s in the cupboard!
- Onion and garlic. The aromatic base every good tomato sauce starts with. Cook them low and slow enough to soften, not colour.
- Chilli flakes and fresh chilli. This is where Arrabiata earns its name, which literally translates to “angry” in Italian. Using both freshly chopped chilli and chilli flakes layer in two levels of heat: the flakes bring a background warmth that builds through cooking, the fresh chilli adds a sharper, more immediate kick.
- Tinned tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes are the backbone of the sauce, specifically San Marzano ones which are picked and canned at peak ripeness, giving you a sweeter, less acidic base than most fresh tomatoes can offer outside of a short summer window.
- Cherry tomatoes. While not necessary, our rendition of an Arrabiata also works in two layers of tomatoes, tinned and fresh. While the tinned San Marzanos give the sauce its rich, cooked-down depth, blistered cherry tomatoes – cooked down until juicy – release a charred sweetness and fresh acidity.
- Fresh basil. Torn basil stirred through at the end, lends a herbal lift to our fiery pasta.
- Parmesan. Always served on the side; Arrabiata is traditionally a cheese-free sauce, so we’re keeping parmesan as an optional finish rather than stirring it into the recipe itself.
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Easy Arrabiata recipe
Literally translating to "angry" – Arrabiata is a fiery Italian pasta starring an intensely-rich tomato sauce layered with heat.
Ingredients
- 200 gm pasta of your choice
- olive oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 4-5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1-2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
- 2-3 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 tin whole peeled tomatoes (400 gm) , preferably San Marzano tomatoes
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 1-2 tsp dried oregano, (optional)
- pinch of sugar (optional)
- fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
- freshly-grated Parmesan, to serve
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in generously salted boiling water until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1–2 cups of the pasta water before draining.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until softened. Add the garlic, fresh chillies and chilli flakes and cook for 1–2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook (covered) until juicy and blistered.
- Pour in the tinned tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon. Rinse the empty tin with a splash of reserved pasta water and add it to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Season with salt, pepper, oregano and a pinch of sugar (depending on whether you need a touch of sweetness to balance the acidity). Taste to adjust seasonings.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss until well coated. Stir through the basil, adding more pasta water if needed.
- Serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and DIVE IN!
Notes
Reserve plenty of pasta water before draining — it’s the key to creating a silky sauce that clings beautifully to the pasta. Adjust the chilli to suit your preferred spice level.
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