Spaghetti all'Assassina Recipe
The unusual but gloriously delicious Spaghetti all'assassina comes from Bari in South East Italy. It features spaghetti fried in a spicy tomato base, and it is then cooked in a tomato broth in a similar way to risotto and delivers a magical texture of almost "caramelised" pasta.
Servings 2 Servings
Calories 689kcal
Ingredients
- 200 g Spaghetti 7oz
- 375 ml Water 1½ Cups
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Red Chilli Pepper Go as hot or mild as you like
- ½ teaspoon Dried Chilli Flakes
- 400 g Tomato Passata ∼2 Cups
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Sugar
- 4 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Fresh Basil to Garnish
- Fresh Chilli to Garnish
- Pecorino or Parmesan to Garnish It is easy to find a vegetarian version of the former
Instructions
- Place the water in a small 15cm or 6" saucepan with half (200g) of the passata and add the salt, sugar, and black pepper. Stir, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
- Peel the garlic cloves and bash them with the side of a knife to break them open.
- Dice the fresh chilli pepper as finely as you can; you can remove the seeds if you like.
- Heat a large (35cm or 14") shallow pan over a medium to low heat, and when it is hot, add the olive oil.
- Throw in the garlic cloves and cook them until they begin to go golden at the edges.
- Add the fresh and dried chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the remaining 200g of tomato passata and add the tomato puree, then stir to form a sauce, cooking it for a couple of minutes until it thickens
- Remove and discard the garlic cloves, then spread the thickened passata over the base of the pan.
- Add the spaghetti, spreading it as close as you can get to an even layer. Then allow it to sit on the base of the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Flip the pasta with a spatula and fry it for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add a ladle of the tomato broth and cook until the tone of the cooking changes and the pasta begins to fry again. Add another ladle or two of stock, repeating the process a 1 ladle at a time as you would with a risotto, ensuring that the spaghetti continues to caramelise between each addition.
- Continue to cook until the pasta is nicely al dente, this will take around 9-12 minutes and leave you with some lovely caramelised bits.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 689kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 706mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g
