A fiery Italian tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and garlic, tossed together with penne pasta. It's a rich and comforting dinner.
Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, and pepper and stir together.
4 x 400 g (4 x 14 oz) cans San Marzano tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato puree, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
Turn up the heat to medium and bring to a gentle simmer. Then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 45-50 minutes, until thickened. Stir occasionally and break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as you stir.
About 15 minutes before the sauce is ready, cook the pasta. Add the pasta to a large pan of boiling salted water.
400 g (14 oz) penne pasta
Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 11 minutes for al dente pasta (or 12-13 minutes if you like it a little softer).
Drain the pasta in a colander and place the drained pasta back in the pan.
Coming back to the sauce, stir in the basil and give the sauce a taste. Add a little more salt and pepper if you like.
a good handful (about 10g/0.35oz) fresh basil leaves
Pour the sauce over the pasta in the pasta pan and stir together to coat the pasta in the sauce.
Serve topped with a sprinkling of black pepper, grated parmesan, and fresh basil leaves.
1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsps parmesan cheese, a good handful (about 10g/0.35oz) fresh basil leaves
Video
Notes
*Note 1 - San Marzano TomatoesSan Marzano tomatoes are the best and most authentic option for Arrabbiata sauce. They have a thicker flesh, less seeds, they're less watery, less acidic and they're sweeter than regular tinned tomatoes.I buy mine at deli shops or online from Sous chef. I've seen them in Waitrose too. They'll say 'San Marzano DOP' or 'San Marzano PDO' on the label - so you know they're the right ones.*PDO = Protected designation of origin*DOP =Denominazione d'Origine Protetta (which means Protected designation of origin)If you can't get hold of them, you can use other good quality tinned whole tomatoes + 1/4 tsp of sugar per 400g/7oz tin. Secret Tip: I found Sainsbury's Italian plum tomatoes were actually very close in taste (when doing a blind raw taste test at home). I didn't need the extra sugar when using that brand (I wasn't paid by them to say that, it's purely my opinion). Can I make it ahead?I wouldn't recommend making the whole dish ahead, but you can make the sauce ahead.Make the sauce, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in a pan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until piping hot - about 6-8 minutes.Once hot, add in your cooked pasta.Can I freeze it?I wouldn't recommend freezing the whole dish, with the pasta in, but you can make the sauce ahead and freeze it.Make the sauce, then cool, pour into a freezer-proof container and seal with a lid. Then freeze. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.Reheat as per the reheat instructions above.How to scale up or downDouble or halve the recipe using the same ingredient ratios.
If doubling you will need to simmer the arrabbiata sauce for 10 minutes longer.
If halving, you will need to simmer the arrabbiata sauce for 10 minutes less.
Nutritional information is per serving, based on this recipe making 4 servings.