When you need the comfort and ease of a quick pasta after a long day, but still want a spike of heat and brightness, rigatoni arrabbiata is the perfect answer. “Arrabbiata” translates to “angry” in Italian and is very flavorful tomato sauce made with a kick of red chili, hence “angry.”
Although not traditionally made with white wine and lemon, I prefer to balance out the fresh chili with a little bit of acid. Those flavors might also beg for some shrimp or shellfish tossed into this pasta, which would be a welcome addition.
This dish is highly adaptable too, the lemon and white wine isn’t crucial to the recipe and the red chili can easily be replaced with red pepper flakes.
Side salads to serve with rigatoni arrabbiata
Other pastas to try
Rigatoni Arrabbiata
A comforting pasta with a spicy and bright tomato based "arrabbiata" sauce.
Servings 2
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 small shallot, (minced)
- 1 small red chili, (seeds removed and minced)
- 3 cloves garlic, (minced)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup parmesan (grated, plus more for serving)
- 8 oz rigatoni
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- salt and cracked pepper (to taste)
- basil (for topping)
Instructions
- Heat a small saucepan to medium heat and add the olive oil and shallots and saute until translucent but not browned, about 4-5 minutes. Then, add the red chili, garlic, wine, and season with salt and pepper. Let that cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your rigatoni according to the package directions, usually about 10 minutes.
- Once the rigatoni is cooked, reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pot. Then, return the rigatoni back to the pot and add the reserved pasta water, cooked arrabbiata sauce, lemon, juice, and parmesan.
- Gently toss the pasta under medium-low heat until the sauce is thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with additional parmesan and fresh basil.
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