Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Fresh Arrabbiata sauce


It's August. I've got 20 tomato plants working. What did you expect me to be cooking?

A quick pasta sauce made with fresh, ripe tomatoes from the garden is a hard thing to top. Last year I posted a 7-minute sauce, which is about the simplest I know. A spicy Arrabbiata only requires a little more effort.


I use pancetta for Arrabbiata. This is about a quarter pound of my homemade pancetta, cut into thick cubes. And this recipe is for a half pound of pasta, which should be good for two people. (If you are a member of my family please disregard this last comment and eat however the hell much you want.)


First step is to fry the pancetta at fairly low heat, but don't let it get too crispy. When done remove the meat from the pan and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.


This small onion is also from the garden, as is the chopped hot pepper. Saute them together, at medium heat, in the pancetta fat, and also a good glob of olive oil.


Once the onions are nice and soft add the pancetta back into the pan and incorporate.


These are three medium-size tomatoes, and they're at about peak ripeness.


Chop them up and add them to the pan with the pancetta, onion and pepper, then turn up the heat to high.


In about 10 minutes the sauce will be ready to go.


Add your cooked pasta to the sauce and incorporate, then lower the heat and sprinkle in around half a cup or more of grated Pecorino cheese. Stir it all together and serve.


I could eat this way for the rest of the month.

And probably will.

4 comments:

  1. You made us wait TWO WEEKS for this? Well, OK, it sounds pretty good, so I guess I'll give it a try, although I prefer a good puttanesca over the more spicy stuff. I sure was getting tired of garlic.

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  2. Looks yummy. I probably wouldn't do hot pepper though. I'm a weenie.

    Pam

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  3. Hello from Canada! I've been reading your blog for a long time, but this might be the first recipe I've actually tried. I made the Arrabbiata sauce tonight, and it turned out great (although the pancetta may have been a tad overdone). This recipe is definitely going to be making regular appearances in my kitchen.

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