Penne All Arrabbiata Recipe

In the US, Arrabbiata sauce is often made with “crushed red pepper”, which is usually made by crushing whole cayenne peppers. The inclusion of the capsaicin-laden membranes connecting the seeds to the pod make the flakes very spicy. This means that if you added enough chili pepper flakes to the sauce to make it an angry red, it would end up face-meltingly spicy. That’s why I decided the choice of chili peppers for this classic pasta sauce needed a bit of rethinking. To make a Penne all’Arrabbiata with an angry red hue, and a good balance of chili flavor and heat, I started rummaging through my pantry in search of the perfect pepper. Guajillo chiles have a good fruity flavor, but have a muddy red color. Chipotle chiles are smoked, ruling them out, and tougarashi, arbol, and piri piri are all too spicy. Out of a dozen or so chilies in my pantry, I found two that worked well for this Penne all’Arrabbiata. Aleppo Chiles and Gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes), both have a full-bodied chili pepper flavor, moderate heat, a hint of sweetness and a vibrant red color. In the end, I went with Gochugaru because it’s easier to find in the US (sold in almost any Asian market), but if Aleppo Chiles are easier to find in your part of the world, then by all means substitute away. Pepper picked, I thought I should address my choice of tomatoes. I often get asked why I use whole stewed tomatoes over diced ones, given that they need to be broken down anyway. The reason is that diced tomatoes need to be picked when they are much less ripe in order to retain their shape after being chopped and cooked. Whole tomatoes, on the other hand, can be picked riper because they are not chopped. This means you’ll end up with a sweeter and more flavorful sauce. If you only have diced tomatoes on hand, or you find that your sauce tastes too sour, you can add a bit of sugar or honey to balance it out. So what’s my secret to making great pasta sauces? Well, I’ve talked at length about the importance of the Maillard Reaction, which creates new flavor compounds, adding complexity to any dish. This can be difficult to achieve in a quick sauce though, because Maillard browning is a function of time and temperature. High temperatures can lead to quick reaction times, but low temperatures will take many hours. Doing this for the tomato sauce would take an impractically long time because of its high water content, but the garlic, gochugaru, tomato paste and anchovy paste all have a low enough water content that Maillard browning can happen in minutes, due to the higher temperatures that can be reached with these drier ingredients. To put this another way, sauté everything with a lower water content before adding the liquids to quickly give any pasta sauce, including this Penne all’Arrabbiata, a boost in flavor.