Spaghetti in Spicy Tomato Sauce (Lombrichelli all’Etrusca)
Published January 12, 2010
Michael Falco for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 medium-large onion, finely chopped
1 fresh red chili, seeded and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
Salt
117 6/10 ounce (500 gram) package imported dried spaghetti alla chitarra or one pound regular dried spaghetti or penne
½ pound pecorino Romano or cacio de Roma, grated
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
426 grams carbs; 39 milligrams cholesterol; 2329 calories; 11 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 28 grams fat; 20 grams fiber; 1824 milligrams sodium; 86 grams protein; 21 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Add carrots, celery and onion and cook on medium until soft. Stir in chili and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned, about 20 minutes total.
- Step 2
Place tomatoes in a bowl, crush fine with your hands and add to pan. Stir. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to very low and cook, stirring from time to time, 1 ½ hours, until reduced and concentrated. Do not allow sauce to scorch. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.
- Step 3
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for pasta. Cook pasta until al dente. Add ½ cup pasta water to tomato mixture. Drain pasta. Reheat sauce to a simmer, add pasta and toss a few minutes until pasta is well coated with sauce. Serve, with generous drifts of cheese on top.
Private Notes
Comments
Make sure to do a very small dice on the carrots, celery, and onions, so that they break down properly and basically melt into the sauce. I used 2 fresh red chilis as well as 2 thai bird chilis and a pinch of red pepper flakes and it had a nice amount of heat. Really let it cook down and become thick, concentrated, and brick-colored, the idea is to thin it out with the addition of some of the salty, starchy pasta water to make it into a silky sauce that coats the pasta. This turned out delicious
My beloved Italian cooking bestie always grated the carrot into the tomatoes and it truly “melted” in upon a decent amount of gentle simmering time. Here’s an ode to you, Roc.
No garlic?
Small diced the carrots, onions and celery like one of the readers suggested and it still felt like the sauce was too chunky (for my preference). Felt like a lot of work for not that great a sauce.
This is probably my favorite pasta sauce - my family loved it! My red chili wasn't spicy, so I added red chili flakes. I also added a small a minced clove of garlic and a can of tomato sauce, because they like it tomato-y. I really reduced the sauce, then added back pasta water as needed. I stirred half the grated Romano cheese (mine was quite moist) into the pasta, and put the rest on top (yes, we used 1/2 lb of Romano cheese!)
I assume it’s meant to read: 1 package of pasta alla chitarra @ 17 6/10 oz (500 g) and one half CUP of grated pecorino or cacio. A half pound of grated cheese seems overly imperial, even by Roman standards.