This week I have been making penne all'arrabbiata. It's a simple pasta dish made with pantry staples, and it's a little bit spicy. You can make it as spicy as you like, and it's a tomato-based sauce. It's really quick to make, and you can actually make a big batch of the sauce and then use it throughout the week. All you need to do is cook the pasta.

It's also good for when you are not really in the mood for cooking, as it comes together so quickly, which is why I have been making it this week, as I have been busy. It's great to have something like this in your arsenal that is still nourishing but easy to make on the days that you don't have much energy.

A Classic I Tweak Depending On My Pantry

This recipe is a classic, well-known Italian pasta recipe, and it's one of the simplest to make among all the classics. As long as you can chop some garlic and chili, then you are good to go. This recipe is usually based around tinned chopped tomatoes for the base of the tomato sauce, but I have swapped it around in numerous ways.

– Sometimes if I only have chopped tomatoes, that's what I'll use.
– Other times I will use whole tomatoes and just let them cook down to make the sauce, such as San Marzano if I'm trying to make it a little bit more special, or just regular plum tomatoes.
– Other times I will even use passata, which can make the sauce nice and silky.

If you have fresh tomatoes, you could also use them for a really fresh-tasting sauce.

You can also change the chili. If I have fresh red chili, I will use that, but if I don't, you can still get a great sauce using dried chili flakes.

I found the original recipe online and just changed it slightly as I figured out what I liked. Sometimes I will add chopped herbs. Sometimes I will add Parmesan. It's just one of those great dishes. If you have something sitting around that will go with tomatoes, then add it to make something uniquely yours.

One Tin of Tomatoes, Two Cloves of Garlic

When I make the sauce, I usually base it around one tin of 400g of tomatoes and then tailor all the other ingredients to that amount, which is usually a couple of cloves of garlic and one decent-sized red chili. I like to keep the seeds in the chili as I like my arrabbiata to be spicy.

This is usually made with standard ingredients, but sometimes I will make it with San Marzano tomatoes, which can sometimes be expensive or hard to find. Just about any variation of tomatoes will work with this dish.

You will just have to tailor the amounts slightly. It's all about cooking them down with the garlic and the chili and some good olive oil. Only use extra virgin to get the best flavor.

Starting Garlic and Chili in a Cold Pan

I start making this by gently sautéing the garlic and chili in the olive oil. I like to start with a cold pan and gently bring up the heat, and this helps to get as much of the garlic and chili flavor into the oil.

Then you add the tomatoes and cook it gently until it thickens slightly. Also reserve some of the pasta water to help create a sauce that will cling to the pasta. I like to season it with some salt and maybe a pinch of sugar, depending on the flavor of the tomatoes that I use. Some chopped parsley or basil added at the end, and you've got a great plate of food.

The longest step is the simmering of the tomatoes. You just need to do this gently until they thicken ever so slightly and you reduce and cook off some of the water content. Once it is reduced down ever so slightly and you can see that it is thicker, then that's when you know it is done.

Why I Reach for Good Passata

To make this easier, I like to use passata. I like to use a really good-quality passata, which naturally has a silkiness to it and doesn't take long to reduce down and turn into a gorgeous pasta sauce.

You can swap this out for an equal quantity of just about any variant of tomato, but usually I will swap between chopped tomatoes, tinned chopped tomatoes, and tinned plum tomatoes.

Be careful when you're using the chili flakes compared to a fresh chili, as I have found that the dried chili flakes tend to pack more heat and you don't need a lot, just a good pinch.

Since this is a tomato-based sauce, I always opt to buy the best quality tomatoes I can find. It makes a huge difference to the end dish. If you buy cheaper varieties, you may have to add some sugar, as they can get quite acidic.

Quick Dinner That Looks Like a Restaurant Plate

I regularly make this for myself during the week when I am busy with other things and need a quick dinner. I also make it for other people and my family, as it is so easy to scale up for however many people you need to cook for.

Everyone loves this, and it's easy to make it look like it just came out of a restaurant when you plate it up with hardly any effort. A little bit of chopped herbs and Parmesan, if that's your thing, all put into a nice bowl, and it looks like you've really made an effort.

Any Pasta Works, Just Don't Burn the Garlic

The most well-known version of this uses penne pasta, but I have successfully used this sauce with spaghetti or bucatini or even rigatoni. You can use just about any pasta that you have in your cupboards, and you will still end up with something delicious. Use your favorite pasta.

One of the biggest things to look out for when making this is that you need to be careful not to burn the garlic and chili. Don't throw it into a hot pan when you begin cooking. Start it off in a cold pan and bring it up to a gentle medium heat. This helps infuse the oil with the flavors of garlic and chili and therefore the whole sauce overall.

Also watch out for cheap tomatoes. They are usually acidic and watery and have very little flavor.

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