Bucatini Arrabbiata

This Roman style Italian pasta is hot!
     Literally, Arrabbiata Sauce translates to angry sauce.  This tomato sauce is loaded with hot chile pepper.  Traditionally a handful of grated parmesan cheese is stirred into the sauce to finish it.  In recent years, basil has been omitted in this sauce by some chefs, so the sauce gains an even bolder flavor.  If you choose to use basil in this sauce, like I did for this recipe, then you can make a salsa pomodoro con basilico (Tomato Basil Sauce) to start your arrabbiata.  Bucatini pasta is like a thick spaghetti noodle that has a hollow tube center.  Bucatini is perfect for this sauce.
     Salsa di Pomodoro con Basilico Recipe (Tomato Basil Sauce):
     Heat some olive oil in a sauce pot over medium heat.  (The proportion of olive oil to the tomatoes should be about one part olive oil to five parts of tomato.)
     Add 5 very finely chopped garlic cloves and a small handful of minced onion to the hot oil.
     Let the garlic sizzle till it turns a light golden color.
     Add one 28oz can of imported Italian plum tomato puree.
     Place a 28oz can of imported Italian peeled plum tomatoes packed in their own juices into a mixing bowl.
     Hand crush the tomatoes in the bowl and then add them to the sauce.
     Stir the sauce often as it reaches a simmering temperature.
     Pluck the leaves off of an entire large bunch of basil.
     Add the basil leaves to the sauce.  (It may seem like a lot of basil but the leaves will wilt into the sauce.)
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     When the sauce starts to bubble and simmer, reduce the heat to medium low.
     Stir the olive oil that separates from the tomatoes back into the sauce occasionally.
     The rule of thumb is to stir a tomato sauce once every five minutes.  The olive oil will become part of the sauce after the sauce is done cooking.  Without enough olive oil, a tomato sauce may end up looking like stewed tomatoes instead of glistening perfect Italian tomato sauce.
     Simmer this sauce very slowly over low heat for about one hour.
     Set the sauce aside.
     Bucatini Arrabbiata Recipe:  Heat some of the tomato basil sauce in a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add some crushed red pepper.  (Pizzaria hot red pepper or crushed red pepper is actually a hot dried red chile caribe pepper.  It is medium hot on the chile pepper heat range.)
     Add some chopped pickled toscano hot pepper.  (Toscano pepper is a mild medium hot yellow pepper.  Pickled toscano pepper is good for this recipe.  Pepperoncini is actually incorrect for making arrabbiata but it can be used in place of toscano peppers.)
     Simmer the sauce and stir it occasionally.
     Cook some bucatini pasta in salted boiling water till it is al dente.
     Drain the water from the pasta.
     As soon as the pasta is done cooking, stir a generous handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese and some chopped Italian parsley into the arrabbiata sauce.
     Add the cooked bucatini pasta to the sauce in the pan an toss the sauce and pasta together.
     Use a chef's fork to plate the pasta.  Pour any excess sauce over the pasta.
     Sprinkle a little bit of grated parmesan cheese and chopped Italian parsley on the pasta.
     Garnish with a parsley sprig.
     The amount of hot chile pepper in this sauce is a personal choice, but this sauce is meant to be picante, so don't go too light on the amount of hot peppers.  The flavor of the very rich basil tomato sauce, peppers and parmesan cheese is so very yummy!  Having fresh basil in the sauce does round the sharp pepper flavors slightly.  Without basil, arrabbiata is very sharp and spicy hot.  Bucatini pasta holds this rich sauce very well.  Arrabbiata is one of my favorite Italian sauces.  Arrabbiata is the spicy one!  Ciao baby! ...  Shawna