Patrick's Arrabiata Sauce

A low-cost spicy sauce with strong flavours and a silky texture. It does take a little time to make but the quantities yield 8 servings so that you can refrigerate or freeze the rest. Works great with dried pasta! It is the outcome of three years of trial and error, and I feel like I no longer need to experiment with the ingredients and method. If you're looking for a basic sauce which will allow for the taste of fresh pasta to be more up front, then this sauce might not be for you. To be served on a bed of your favourite pasta, topped with a few fresh basil leaves.

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 60 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 391 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup red cooking wine
• 20 leaves fresh basil
• ¼ cup unsalted light butter
• 6 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 5 yellow onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 15 Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 5 tablespoons double concentrated tomato paste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Place olive oil, butter, and garlic in a large pot; turn heat to high until garlic begins to sizzle, about 2 minutes. Turn heat down to medium; stir in onions and cook and stir until onions are translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour wine over onion mixture; simmer until wine is partially evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Step 2

Place tomatoes and basil in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to blend until tomatoes are chunky. Pour tomatoes into onion mixture; cook, stirring about every 5 minutes, until sauce darkens to a deep red color, about 40 minutes. Turn off heat.

Step 3

Working in batches, pour the sauce into a food processor and blend until smooth. Stir tomato paste, smoked paprika, sugar, and cayenne pepper into tomato mixture; season to taste with salt.