Penne all'Arrabbiata Autentica Romana

Rome, Lazio

The Roman pasta of anger: penne rigate in a sauce of olive oil, garlic, dried whole chilli (not chilli flakes — the difference is significant), and good canned tomato. No onion, no pancetta, no cream, no meat — the absolute minimum. Arrabbiata means 'angry' — the chilli should make the sauce genuinely hot, not mildly spiced. The sauce is made and eaten within 20 minutes. The precision lies in getting the tomato-garlic-chilli balance right so the heat is present but the tomato's sweetness holds.

• Tomato-chilli pasta sauce — the Southern Italian version uses nduja for a deeper, fermented chilli hit → Pasta con nduja e pomodoro Calabrian
• Tomato and dried chilli pasta sauce — the Iberian version of the Roman arrabbiata principle → Espaguetis con salsa de tomate y guindilla Spanish
• Fermented chilli paste added to tomato — a modern East Asian translation of the arrabbiata technique → Gochujang tomato sauce for pasta (modern fusion) Korean

Direct, hot, angry — tomato and chilli with nothing to hide behind and nothing to apologise for; the Roman sauce that proves minimalism is a skill, not a compromise