Arrabbiata Sauce

My next two posts will depend on a wonderful, spicy tomato sauce – and while there are literally thousands of ways to make one, this is an excellent version that has a lot of flavor as well as heat. Perfect for pasta, as well as all sorts of meats and seafoods. Also known as Fra Diavolo sauce….. but whatever you’d prefer to call it, it’s easy to make and utilizes common pantry ingredients!

 

 

I’ve tweaked this recipe for years, and while I still can’t help myself from continuing to play around with it, my go-to version has what I think is a key ingredient: fresh basil, and plenty of it.  Then of course there is the crushed red pepper. I’ve also used fresh chilies, but this is a rare time when I don’t especially recommend them since they don’t give the classic, authentic taste I want for this sauce. For me it’s the dried all the way!

Ingredients: (makes 3 1/2 cups of sauce)

• 28 ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. You can use regular crushed, but the fire-roasted is awesome!
• 1 small yellow onion, grated or very finely minced
• 6 large fresh basil leaves, chiffonade cut
• 2 large cloves garlic, very finely minced, about one tablespoon
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 to 1  1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper. I have a high tolerance for heat in food, so I use 1  1/2 teaspoons. Any more is too much for me, but less than 1 teaspoon can be disappointing.  Vary the amount according to your taste.
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Several grinds (10 or so) freshly ground black pepper. This adds another element of heat that blends extremely well with the other flavors.

 

 

Add oil to a heavy sauce pan heated to medium low and saute onions and garlic until soft.  I fine-grate my onion, so this step is just to soften the garlic. Add bay leaf, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and heat briefly with the onion and garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes and basil, heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 15 minutes. Taste for spice/salt and adjust accordingly.  That’s it –  use in your favorite pasta dish to ’spice things up’, or as a simmering sauce for Italian Meatballs.  This sauce was used for not only pasta and some homemade meatballs, but also for my favorite sub:  

 

 Meatball and Provolone Sub Fra Diavolo

Enjoy!