Now That's-a Spicy Italian Sauce!

A while back, I wrote a post about The Advantages of a Homemade Bolognese, and when I wrote it, my intent was to intermittently touch on different sauces that you can use in your menu planning for easy and quick meals. For some reason, I had arrabbiata sauce stuck in my head today, so I thought I would share this spicy sauce with you in a post!

From Flickr - by AntTree

Traditionally, this sauce is served with penne, as the tubular shape is great for picking up the chunks of tomatoes in the sauce! It's a very simple sauce of only four, sometimes five ingredients. The original version includes garlic, tomatoes, red chili flakes and olive oil. Some people add basil to this mix but the majority of Italian chefs won't do this. When the dish is served, it is usually sprinkled with some parsley, and in my case, Parmigiano Reggiano.

From Flickr - by kellinasf

The great thing about this sauce is that you have control over how spicy you want it. The red chili flakes are HOT, so if you don't like a ton of spice, use a little bit...and if you love the heat, pile it on! My tip to you is start off slow, and keep tasting your sauce as it simmers! You can always add, but you can never take away!