Penne Arrabiata – A fiery Italian tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and garlic, mixed with penne pasta.
It’s rich and soothing. Plus, it’s naturally vegetarian!
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The most important thing about this recipe is the sauce. Arrabbiata sauceprepared in the traditional way, with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, chilli and San Marzano tomatoes.
This is a rich and flavorful sauce that’s also pretty easy to make!
Once you have the sauce you can add any type of cooked pasta you like.
I love it with fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle when I feel like long pasta.
for short pasta, penne is the most popular variant, but you can of course replace it with any short pasta you like.
📋 Sauce ingredients
The main ingredients of a traditional Arrabiata sauce include:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Canned San Marzano tomatoes
- Garlic
- chili flakes
📺 Watch how the sauce is made
Note: This video shows the long pasta arrabbiata sauce, but you just need to add the cooked penne to the sauce in the same way.
👩🍳PRO TIP This is a Low & Slow sauce. Slow cook the onions, then simmer the tomatoes nice and slowly for a thick, rich tomato pasta sauce.
Once the flavorful arrabbiata sauce is ready, stir in the cooked penne pasta.
Serve garnished with black pepper, chilli flakes, basil leaves and parmesan (or use hard Italian-style vegetarian cheese for vegetarians).
🍽️ What to serve it with
🍲 More delicious pasta recipes
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Penne Arrabiata
A fiery Italian tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and garlic, mixed with penne pasta. It is a rich and beneficial dinner.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Start by preparing the Arrabbiata sauce. Place the oil in a large saucepan and heat over low to medium heat.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are very soft (but should not be browned), 10-15 minutes.
1 small onion
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Add the garlic and chilled flakes and cook for another 2 minutes.
4 large cloves of garlic, 1 tsp chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)
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Add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
4 x 400g (4 x 14 oz) cans San Marzano tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato puree (paste for USA), ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
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Increase the heat to medium and let it simmer gently. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 45-50 minutes until thickened. Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon while stirring.
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About 15 minutes before the sauce is ready, cook the pasta. Place the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water.
400g penne pasta
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Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 11 minutes to get al dente pasta (or 12-13 minutes if you like it a little softer).
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Drain the pasta in a colander and return the drained pasta to the pan.
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Getting back to the sauce, stir in the basil and taste the sauce. Add some more salt and pepper if you like.
A good handful (about 10g) of fresh basil leaves
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Pour the sauce over the noodles in the pasta pan and stir until the noodles are coated with the sauce.
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Serve garnished with a sprinkling of black pepper, grated parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Garnish with basil leaves, black pepper and parmesan when serving.
¼ tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese (or hard Italian-style vegetarian cheese for vegetarians), A good handful (about 10g) of fresh basil leaves
✎ Notes
San Marzano tomatoes are the best and most authentic option for Arrabbiata sauce. They have thicker flesh, fewer pips, are less watery, less acidic and sweeter than regular canned tomatoes.
I buy mine at delis or online from Sous Chef. I also saw her at Waitrose. The label says “San Marzano DOP” or “San Marzano PDO” – so you know they’re the right ones.
*PDO = Protected Designation of Origin
*DOP =Denominazione d’Origine Protetta (which means Protected Designation of Origin)
If you can’t get them you can use other good quality whole canned tomatoes + ¼ tsp sugar per 400g can.
Insider tip: I found Sainsbury’s Italian Plum Tomatoes to be very similar in taste (in a blind home raw food test). I didn’t need any added sugar with this brand (I wasn’t paid to say that, that’s just my opinion).
Can I make it?
I wouldn’t recommend making the whole dish ahead of time, but you can make the sauce ahead of time.
Prepare the sauce, chill, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Reheat in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until piping hot – about 6-8 minutes.
Once hot, add your cooked pasta.
can i freeze it
I wouldn’t recommend freezing the whole dish with the pasta in it, but you can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it.
Prepare the sauce, allow to cool, transfer to a freezer-safe container and secure with a lid. Then freeze.
Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Warm it up according to the warm-up instructions above.
How to scale up or down
Double or halve the recipe, keeping the ingredient ratios the same.
- When doubling You will need to simmer the arrabbiata sauce for an additional 10 minutes.
- At halvingyou need to reduce the simmer of the arrabbiata sauce by 10 minutes.
The nutritional information is for one serving, this recipe makes 4 servings.
Nourishment
Calories: 562kcalCarbohydrates: 95GProtein: 18GFat: 13GSaturated Fatty Acids: 2GPolyunsaturated fat: 2GMonounsaturated fatty acids: 8thGCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 920mgPotassium: 1077mgFiber: 8thGSugar: 14GVitamin A: 923IUVitamin C: 41mgCalcium: 200mgIron: 6mg
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