Arrabbiata sauce – it’s a staple of Italian pasta sauces, a classic pomodoro with a spicy twist. They say the name Arrabbiata comes from the Latin for ‘angry’, but I wonder. The combination of tomatoes and chillies is a classic combination in my culture, and probably came to Italy from North Africa and the Middle East. Arabic sauce, in other words.
The following recipe is our local version, and it goes back hundreds of years. You can make lots of it in one go and freeze it. In our modern age, you can use it in many ways – not just over pasta, but as a pizza sauce or in a slightly more zingy lasagne. Or, my favourite, you can serve it as a sauce for kofta (Moroccan meatballs). In fact, a spoonful or two of this extremely versatile sauce can be used to pep up all manner of dishes.
6 large tomatoes or 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
1 large red pepper, deseeded
1 large red chilli, deseeded (unless you like your sauce HOT)
4 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
2 tsps harira (optional) – you can buy jars of harira – Moroccan hot sauce – in most supermarkets these days
3 tbsps tomato puree
2 tbps honey
1 handful chopped fresh basil
2 tsps dried oregano/marjoram
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and black pepper
Finely chop your onion and sweat it in the olive oil for 10 minutes
Cut the cores out of the big tomatoes (no need with the little ones)
Deseed the red pepper and the chilli pepper
Skin the garlic cloves
In a food processor whizz up the tomatoes, pepper, chilli and garlic in batches
Add the pureed mixture to the hot onion pan
Add the tomato puree, the honey and herbs and a little boiling water
Cook on a medium heat, stirring regularly, for around 20 minutes until all the ingredients have got to know one another well and the sauce is singing. Taste and season to your own preference
This is the way we prepare it in our area, where there is always an abundance of tomatoes, garlic and chillies. It’s a slightly sweeter, less angry version than the classic Italian sauce, which is very fitting: Tafraout is a very relaxed and laid-back place...
