10.09.2013

Rigatoni Arrabbiata (aka Saturday Night Pasta)

This recipe has been on countless Weekly Menus, with a brief description on how it's made.  Since it's fun to share recipes, I thought I'd flesh it out a bit and give Arrabbiata it's own post.  I think it deserves one.

A little background first from wikipedia: Arrabbiata sauce, or sugo all'arrabbiata in Italian, is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers cooked in olive oil. "Arrabbiata" literally means "angry" in Italian, and the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the chili peppers.

There are a lot of versions of Arrabbiata out there; ours definitely adheres to the basic definition, and we add hot Italian sausage.  That's what kinda makes it more 'Saturday night' than, say, 'Tuesday Night' pasta.

The cast of characters:




In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, cook hot Italian sausage (we prefer turkey sausage) in the olive oil until no longer pink, breaking it up as you go.
While the sausage cooks, chop 1 medium yellow onion and 4 cloves of garlic and add to the pot once sausage is cooked through.  
Cook until softened, about 5-8 minutes.


the sides of the pot may start to look a little scary, but you'll reap all the yummy goodness once it's deglazed.

Deglaze the pot with 1 cup of white wine and let simmer for about 2 minutes.
Add can of tomato paste and coat ingredients in the pot and let cook for another 2 minutes.
Add 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, 8oz can of sauce, 1 tablespoon each of dried basil and oregano, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Give it a big stir.


you can add less wine, or some chicken stock or omit the extra liquid altogether - but it gives the sauce great flavor.  
Make sure not to step on any small pets that are lingering at the delicious smells.




Let simmer on medium low heat for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes.


Just take your glass of wine right there and walk away.  Do check on it from time to time and give it a stir, so that it doesn't burn.

Serve over rigatoni (or your pasta of choice) cooked to package directions with a generous serving of fresh grated Parmesan: not the stuff in the green can, not even the stuff in a tub from the deli.  If you haven't already, please do yourself a favor and grab a nice huge hunk of real Parmigiano Reggiano from a store like Whole Foods to serve over pasta.  We whir ours through the Cuisinart and store it in the fridge, and freeze the rinds to simmer in soups!


Saturday on a plate!



Rigatoni Arrabbiata (aka Saturday Night Pasta)

Ingredients


  • 12oz box of rigatoni pasta
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8oz hot Italian sausage (we prefer turkey sausage)
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 cup of white wine
  • 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
  • 8oz can of tomato sauce
  • 6oz can of tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper (more or less according to taste)
  • sea salt and pepper to taste 


Directions

In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, cook sausage in the olive oil until no longer pink, breaking it up as you go.
While the sausage cooks, chop 1 medium yellow onion and 4 cloves of garlic and add to the pot once sausage is cooked through.  Cook until softened, about 5-8 minutes.
Deglaze the pot with 1 cup of white wine and let simmer for about 2 minutes.
Add can of tomato paste and coat ingredients in the pot and let cook for another 2 minutes.
Add 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, 8oz can of sauce, 1 tablespoon each of dried basil and oregano, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
Let simmer on medium low heat for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes.
Serve over rigatoni (or your pasta of choice) cooked to package directions and top with Parmesan cheese or some fresh basil.



0 comments:

Post a Comment