Spicy Red Sauce (Arrabbiata)

My beloved is obsessed by Italian-American food. From pizza to pasta, he loves it all. Recently, he found a crustless quiche I made dry. 

His solution? Dip it in spicy red sauce (Arrabbiata.)

I didn’t have any jarred sauce of that type around, so I set to work. After consulting a number of Arrabbiata recipes, I made my own version. With only five ingredients plus salt and black pepper, mine is simple and easy to prepare. Delicious too. 

Although I intended it originally as a dipping sauce, it became pasta sauce (with a few meatballs from the freezer) when we had leftovers.

Use it anyway you like. If you’re like us, you’ll find lots of tempting ways to add spicy red sauce to dishes you already make or have planned. 

This sauce will last for about a week, well covered in the refrigerator. You can freeze it too. 

Tips for Making Spicy Red Sauce (Arrabbiata)

• Use whole or crushed canned tomatoes. Diced tomatoes and sauce are not right for this recipe. If you use whole canned tomatoes, you will need to break them up with a spoon after you add them to the sauce. They take a bit longer to cook down than crushed tomatoes, but the flavor is purer. I was looking for the quickest option, so I chose crushed tomatoes for this batch. For the different types of canned tomatoes and their uses, I found this article helpful. This one is good too. 
• A bit of carrot is essential. I learned this tip from Marcella Hazan. Some cooks use sugar to sweeten tomato sauce, but that isn’t necessary if you use carrot. Mice the carrot (or piece of carrot if the carrot is large) and let it disappear into the sauce as the sauce slowly cooks. 
• To let other flavors shine through, slice or mash your garlic. Minced garlic is stronger and more pungent than smashed or sliced garlic. I prefer the subtler taste smashed or sliced imparts. 
• The “right” amount of spiciness is what your taste buds tell you. No one but you can decide how much red pepper is the right amount. This sauce does not contain raw eggs or flour, so taste away, and let your taste buds be your guide. Remember, start with a little and add more. You can always add spiciness, but once you’ve gone overboard, it’s difficult to dial it back. I added a pinch of Aleppo pepper, for the complex, slightly spicy flavor it imparts. But no worries if you don’t have it or prefer a “straight” red sauce. 
• Cook it long and slow. The best way to get great flavors and texture in this sauce is to cook it long and slow. that means keeping it at the lowest possible simmer, never letting it get to a boil.