Pasta, I believe is a blessing to mankind. I could probably have it everyday and not complain. I have memories of delicious, savoury pasta etched into my mind from restaurants I’ve visited years ago . I judge the quality of food being served in a restaurant by how well they make their pasta.
It’s such a simple yet complex ingredient which can be made in a multitude of ways. I love my pasta in all shapes and sauces.
Today, I’ll be making the traditional Pasta Arrabbiata with a twist, basically a red sauce pasta. While, arrabbiata sauce uses a few ingredients – olive oil, garlic and red chillies, for this recipe, I have tweaked the sauce to my liking.
Ingredients:
1 cup pasta
Olive oil
8 large tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic
Ginger
Green chillies
1 onion
Chilli flakes
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
1 Capsicum
1 Carrot
Red paprika
Optional Ingredients:
Olives
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Zucchini
Cheese
Recipe:
Take 8 ripe tomatoes and blanch them. For blanching, use a knife to cross the bottom of the tomatoes and add them to boiling hot water (you can also microwave them). Once they are boiling over, run them in cold water. The tomato skin can now be easily peeled. This is being done to have a smooth consistency in the sauce and avoid chunks of skin. Now, I have deseeded the tomatoes, but this step can be skipped. Chop the tomatoes into fine pieces to make a tomato concasse or blend it into a puree.
Take a pot and heat a generous amount of olive oil. Add garlic and allow the oil to absorb the flavour. I had garlic powder handy, so I added it to the pot, but it’s optional.
Add some ginger, green chillies and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add salt, pepper and some sugar for taste.
Add the tomato concasse/puree to the mix and cook. Add any chopped vegetables of your liking and cook the sauce thoroughly. I’ve added carrot and capsicum as only that was handy during the preparation. My personal favourite veggie toppings are broccoli and olives.
Take a large container and boil water with some olive oil and a large amount of salt. Add dry pasta to the boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. Take it out post that and cut it with a knife or eat it to check whether it’s cooked. The Italians have a term for this – al dente, which means just cooked (not entirely cooked). However, I prefer my pasta perfectly cooked.
I like to make the sauce before hand so that I can add hot, steaming pasta to it. Otherwise, pasta cooked beforehand loses some of its flavour. Now, add the pasta to the sauce. Retain the pasta water and add it to the sauce to give it a starchy flavour and doubly act as a means to dilute the sauce in case it has thickened a lot.
Season it with chilli flakes and oregano and simmer for half an hour with the lid closed.
Grate some parmesan cheese on top (optional) and serve. I don’t get basil easily, but it adds a rich flavour and aroma to the dish, so definitely add it during cooking if available. Pasta in red sauce is ready to be served!
For Traditional Pasta Arrabbiata – simply heat olive oil, add garlic and chilli flakes before adding blanched tomato puree and add pasta and serve.
Enjoy your food š
