Spaghetti all'Assassina Recipe
Crispy, charred, spicy and packed with rich tomato flavour, Spaghetti all’Assassina is pasta cooked in a completely different way and those caramelised edges are what make it so good.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 700g (24 oz) jar of Passata (I like Mutti or Cirio)
- 600 ml 3 cups water
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tsp chilli flakes
- 170 g (6 oz) dried spaghetti (use standard, inexpensive pasta, not bronze/artisanal pasta)
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
To Serve:
- extra virgin olive oil
- Black pepper
- Grated Parmesan
- Finely chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Add the passata and water to a saucepan. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer gently.700g (24 oz) jar of Passata, 600 ml 3 cups water
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and chilli flakes and allow to cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, so the garlic doesn't burn.4 tbsp olive oil, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp chilli flakes
- Add the dry spaghetti to the pan and toss in the garlic and oil to coat. Cook for 1 minute, to lightly toast the spaghetti.170 g (6 oz) dried spaghetti
- Add 3 ladles of the passata-water over the pasta (it will sizzle a lot, so be careful). Add the salt and pepper. Use a set of tongs to move the pasta around and mix the sauce.3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Increase the heat a little and cook for around 5-6 minutes. We want the pasta to absorb most of the liquid, the sauce to caramelize slightly and the pasta to char a little on the bottom.
- Use a spatula to turn the spaghetti over, then add three more ladles of liquid. Continue to cook, allowing the sauce to reduce and the pasta to catch on the pan so we get some nice charred bit.
- Repeat again with the pasta turning and passata water. We want to cook the pasta for about 18-20 minutes altogether (it takes longer to cook this way than in boiling water). The aim is for the sauce to have reduced right down and look very dark red.
- Once the pasta is cooked, you can add half a ladle of the passata water if you want to loosen the pasta a little.
- Turn off the heat and divide between two bowls. Drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle on black pepper. You can also add a little parmesan and fresh basil if you like.Black pepper, Grated Parmesan, Finely chopped fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil
Resist moving the pasta too much. Leaving it in contact with the hot pan gives it time to caramelise and develop those signature crispy, charred edges.
NOTE: You may not need all of the Passata and water mixture.
Notes
Why use cheap (standard) pasta for all'assassina?
Standard spaghetti is less starchy, so won't go as sticky or weld itself to the pan as much as artisanal pasta. Usually bronze-cut, artisanal pastas' rough, starchy surface is better, as it helps sauces cling to the pasta, but for this dish, it would cause the pasta to glue-up, stick together and stick to the pan more than we want it to. It's also more delicate, so trying to unstick-it causes it to break.Scaling the recipe
You can double the ingredients to serve four using one large frying pan, but make sure the spaghetti has plenty of room to sit against the base of the pan, and expect the cooking time to increase slightly as the extra sauce reduces.Nutrition
Calories: 709kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Sodium: 1009mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 19g
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