Fast food, episode IV

The family is away helping Cassie get herself properly oriented for college. After a few days, I finally ran out of leftovers, so it was time to feed myself with another one from my seemingly endless collection of quick pasta dishes that you can have on the table in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. Since I was the only one eating this for a change, I was finally able to go whole hog and try it using the full teaspoon of red pepper flakes called for in the original recipe. That made for a very "angry" pasta indeed, so I dialed it down some in my take on the recipe, but you can make it with more or less red pepper, depending on how fiery you like your food.

Simple Pasta Arrabbiata

Adapted from Pasta e Verdura (1996) by Jack Bishop

Time: ~25 min

Cook's Illustrated has a newer recipe for Pasta Arrabbiata (video) that's also good, but it's fussier than what I was after, including getting out the food processor to chop the tomatoes and using some ingredients that you probably don't keep around, such as pepperoncini and anchovy fillets. This version uses nothing but pantry staples and gets dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.

1 to 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1 pound penne, ziti, or rigatoni
3 tablespoons (40 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
3–4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1–2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large pot. Add the fine sea salt and stir to dissolve. Add the pasta and stir immediately, then stir again a few more times in the first minute or two. Cook until al dente, then drain, reserving a mugful of the pasta water.
    2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet or saucier over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and sautè until the garlic is fragrant and lightly colored, about 2 minutes. Don’t burn the garlic.
    3. Add the tomatoes and kosher salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens some, about 10 minutes.
    4. When the pasta is almost done, scoop a 2-ounce ladleful (¼ cup) of the pasta cooking water into the sauce. Taste for salt and red pepper.
    5. Add the drained pasta and the parsley to the sauce and toss well. Adjust the consistency as needed with more pasta cooking water. Serve promptly. Serves 4.