Arrabbiata Sauce, also known as Angry Sauce, for Pasta, Pizza and Dipping

Arrabbiata sauce has always been an obsession of mine. If pasta is an option on the menu, it’s the first thing I order at an Italian restaurant. Being such a simple sauce, it can tell you a lot about the place and the ingredients they use. Arrabbiata is certainly not the flashiest Italian pasta sauce, nor the most complicated, and I think that’s what I like most about it. It is unassuming — but can come through in a big, big way if executed correctly. 

Like a simple slice of cheese pizza, everyone’s version of Arrabbiata sauce is different. The classic recipe is composed of garlic, dried chili flakes and tomatoes sautéed in olive oil. Little differences such as what kind of tomatoes you use, how you cut and cook the garlic, how spicy the chili flakes are and what type of olive oil you sauté everything in can make a huge difference in the final product. Outside of the traditional ingredients, there are liberties and additions that can change the sauce to make it your own.

When you translate “arrabbiata,” it literally means angry. The sauce, which is known as ‘sugo all’arrabbiata’ in Italy, originates from the Lazio region. It’s rooted in the Italian adjective “arabbiato,” which indicates a personal characteristic that is pushed to excess. The notion came from Roman cooks having a very heavy hand in the kitchen with the sauce’s main ingredients: garlic, tomatoes, dried red chili flakes and olive oil. The dish dates back to the 1950s when spicy cuisine was trending in Rome. While ‘arabbiato’ can be applied to any dish, spicy marinara is probably the most well-known.

Let’s talk tomatoes. While the dried red chilies are arguably the most dominate ingredient in Arrabbiata sauce, tomatoes comprise the bulk of the volume. With a sauce as simple as this one, you can really taste all the components. As a result, the sweeter and more robust the tomatoes are, the less outside sugar and salt you need to add. The sweetness of the tomatoes also balances out the heat from the chilies. 

The heat of the sauce is derived from dried red chili flakes. While you want the sauce to deliver this promised punch, you don’t want it so hot it’s inedible. To achieve a spicy but balanced sauce, start small and then go big. The hotness of the peppers becomes more evident after simmering in the sauce for a bit. Add a small amount and let it cook into the tomatoes for 20 minutes (because you can always add more). Another thing to keep in mind is that all red pepper flakes are not created equal. I don’t think I realized just how extreme of a difference there can be between brands until we switched ours. A teaspoon of one type of red pepper flakes does not equal the same amount of another. This is where taste testing really comes into play.

Another source of heat in the sauce comes from the garlic. Different varieties of garlic are spicier than others. While garlic might seem like a no brainer, the type you use along with how you slice and cook it can drastically change the overall taste of the sauce. Mincing the garlic will taste much different than creating thin slices on a mandolin or even slow cooking whole cloves in oil.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, a good quality olive oil is always the way to go. Especially in simple dishes. The taste of the oil comes through and affects the taste of the entire sauce. Since you are using the oil to sauté the other ingredients and not as a finishing oil, you don’t need to use extra virgin.

Once you get the basics down, there are also a few non-traditional ingredients I like to add to my arrabbiata sauce. The first is wine. People who understand the advantage of putting wine in sauces tend to do so religiously. Wine enhances the dish by releasing the flavor molecules in the food you are sautéing it with. As the alcohol reduces, it concentrates its natural flavors with the other ingredients in the sauce.

Another great addition is butter. Aside from using great ingredients, butter is really the secret weapon in taking pasta sauces to the next level. It’s the very last thing you slip into the sauce to make everything cohesive and pop. Then there are finishing cheeses, such as Parmigiana Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. They don’t have to have a heavy presence in the sauce, but add a nice dimension to the finished dish.

Even if you don’t serve pasta at your shop, there are plenty of other places to add Arrabbiata sauce onto your menu. The obvious being on a pizza, but it really pairs with most anything that needs a spice upgrade. You can cook meatballs in arrabbiata sauce and serve them as a side or as a pizza topping. You can use it as a dipping sauce for garlic bread, knots or house-made rolls. A fun one is to spoon it onto a Sicilian or other pan pizza with alternating Alfredo sauce stripes. You can turn a traditional eggplant or chicken parm into a hot one. If you don’t have a pasta station you can do baked ziti or lasagna with an Arrabbiata sauce.

As you can see, Arrabbiata might appear to be a pretty straightforward sauce with basic ingredients, but how you utilize and cook those very components can make for a very unique dish.

Get the Arrabbiata Sauce Recipe.