Penne Arrabiata

This morning, Jeremy and I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  We spent the rest of the day hungry from the run. :)  So tonight, we did a little reverse-carbo-loading and had pasta and fresh-baked rolls for dinner.  I decided to make my own arrabiata sauce.  This definitely had a kick after you'd eaten a whole bowl (at least I thought so... Jeremy thought it wasn't too spicy).  Still, if you don't like spicy food, you should probably cut back on the  red chili flakes.

I baked these rolls by making a dough in my bread machine and then rolling it out and cutting it with a cookie cutter.  I brushed each of them with a little olive oil, and sprinkled them with garlic powder and sea salt.  A perfect complement to the pasta (and it was delicious to mop up the extra sauce with them).  But any nice chewy roll or bread would go great with this.

This sauce recipe sauced a whole box of whole wheat penne and gave me enough to freeze another serving.  I'm looking forward to thawing that at some point and seeing how spicy it has become by then. :)

Arrabiata Sauce:
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. crushed red chili flake
1 tbs. minced garlic
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 tbs. dried basil leaves
1 tbs. parsley flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt (my canned tomatoes are salt free... if your tomatoes have salt in them, check the seasonings before adding the salt)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 box (13.25 oz.) whole wheat penne (or whatever pasta you like)

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add oil, crushed red chili flake, and minced garlic.  Heat, stirring frequently until the oil turns slightly orange and is fragrant.
2. Add tomato paste.  Stir to incorporate. Cook for 1-2 minutes to allow flavors to combine.
3. Add remaining ingredients.  Lower heat to maintain a bare simmer.  Stir occasionally.  Simmer for 30-40 minutes until flavors combine and the diced tomatoes break down a little. (Make the pasta according to package directions so that it is finished when the sauce is finished.)
4. Mix sauce with pasta and serve.  Add parmesan cheese if desired. (I had a little under half the sauce left after saucing my pasta... so don't just dump the whole pot of sauce into the pasta.)