Name: Penne all'Arrabbiata
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 400 g penne rigate; 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 2 dried peperoncini, crumbled, or 1 tsp chilli flakes; 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 800 g tinned plum tomatoes, crushed by hand; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Penne all'Arrabbiata

Angry pasta, and rightly so: garlic bloomed slowly in olive oil, dried chilli, and tomatoes cooked hard enough to concentrate. This arrabbiata recipe is naturally vegan, takes twenty minutes, and tastes like considerably more effort.

30 min total Serves 4 servings Easy

How to Make Penne all'Arrabbiata

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Put the olive oil, sliced garlic and crumbled chilli in a cold wide pan. Set over medium-low heat and let it come up slowly, about 5 minutes, until the garlic is pale gold and the oil is fragrant. Do not let it brown.
Add the crushed tomatoes and salt. Raise the heat and cook at a lively simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce darkens and the oil separates at the edges.
Meanwhile cook the penne in well-salted water until 2 minutes short of the packet time. Reserve 200 ml of pasta water.
Tip the drained penne into the sauce and cook together for the final 2 minutes, tossing and adding pasta water so the sauce clings and finishes cooking into the pasta.
Stir through the parsley off the heat and serve. Arrabbiata traditionally takes no cheese.

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Notes for Getting It Right

Crush the tomatoes with your hands rather than blending — texture is half of what makes this dish feel rustic.
Cold-start the garlic. Dropping it into hot oil burns the edges before the centre gives up its flavour.
Adjust the heat with a second peperoncino at the end rather than at the start; long cooking mutes chilli aroma.

Swaps and Variations

An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What Goes With Penne all'Arrabbiata

A young Montepulciano d'Abruzzo handles the chilli
Serve with garlicky sautéed broccoli rabe
Cool it down with lemon sorbet

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Ciabatta, Citrus Fennel Salad, Focaccia di Recco.

Leftovers and Storage

The sauce keeps 5 days refrigerated and freezes for 3 months, improving with a night's rest. Dressed pasta keeps 2 days; reheat with a splash of water in a covered pan over low heat.