Spaghetti all'Assassina (Spicy Singed Tomato Pasta)
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2½cups jarred or homemade tomato sauce
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2teaspoons red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 1garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 2teaspoons tomato paste
- 1pound (uncooked) spaghetti
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
581 calories; 16 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 94 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 755 milligrams sodium
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.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
In a medium saucepan, heat the tomato sauce with 3½ cups water over medium heat. Stir to combine and bring the tomato broth to a simmer.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a 12- to 14-inch nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium.
- Step 3
Add red-pepper flakes and garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring, until garlic is just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, press it into the pan to spread it out, and cook until it begins to melt and toast.
- Step 4
Using a ladle or big spoon, add about ½ cup of the warm tomato broth to the pan and swirl to combine with the other ingredients.
- Step 5
Carefully place the spaghetti into the pan on top of the sauce. (The spaghetti should fit lengthwise, but you can break the strands to fit in your pan, if need be.) Ladle 1 cup of the tomato broth on top of the pasta. Using a fork, move the spaghetti strands until evenly coated, pressing the spaghetti to distribute the broth until it evenly coats the pasta.
- Step 6
Allow the pasta to cook for 3 minutes. Once the broth is absorbed, add 1½ cups tomato broth and repeat the process. As the pasta softens, move the strands out so they begin to create an even layer in the skillet.
- Step 7
Add another 1½ cups broth. Rearrange the pasta again so it’s in an even layer and covered in liquid, and cook another 3 minutes.
- Step 8
At the 9-minute mark, the pasta should begin to crackle and sizzle. Gently lift the pasta and peek underneath it. There should be crispy, almost burnt pieces. If so, flip the pasta. If not, increase heat a bit until it crisps, then flip and continue.
- Step 9
Once the pasta is flipped, add the remaining broth. At this point, the pasta should be soft enough to easily move in the pan. Continue cooking until broth is absorbed and pasta is cooked through but still al dente. (If your pasta is still on the firmer side, you can add a splash of water, if needed, and cook until al dente.)
- Step 10
Divide among bowls. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jean A
A dish like this, which uses an unfamiliar technique, cries out for a video! From the comments, it seems like a lot of people ended up with something that was good, but not necessarily what was intended. A video would show us exactly what to look for at each step.
vicki
Go to YouTube, search Spaghetti all’Assassina and you’ll find a video of chef Celso Laforgia making it. It’s helped me to be able to see it being made. This is amazing!
Manhattan Tart (Manhattan Beach, CA)
Used 1.25 tsp. red pepper flakes and it was plenty. Marcella Hazan's recipe (referenced) for sauce makes 3 C., so instead of using 2.5 C of sauce and 3.5 of water, I used 3 C sauce, 2.5 C water. I used 4 cloves of garlic which, to my surprise, didn't burn in my 14" cast iron skillet (which worked GREAT for this recipe). My husband had 3 servings, I had two. The only addition I'd make would be a little grating of parm-reg to serve. Umami-laden and rich, will absolutely make again and again.
judy hp
after a hectic week of preparations leading to Christmas, this was fast, easy & fantastic. i did double the garlic cloves (prob could have tripled, quadrupled). it comes together fast and the result is so satisfying. fried up some spicy sausage sans casings and added it at the end with some shredded parm.
Denise
Cooks Illustrated has similar but fussier recipe that I’ve made many times. A favorite in our home but extremely messy. Tomato and oil sputter and get everywhere. Searching for tips to address this. Agree with earlier comment—when I’ve patiently developed some crust this dish is at its best. This photo errantly doesn’t show any char. My local grocery has recently started carrying tomato purée called passata from Mutti and DeLallo. Once I used that instead of tomato sauce—the dish was perfect!
slopemomma
Had this dish in recently in Bari, and this recipe is absolutely faithful! Let the char really develop on the pasta at the end (be patient!) and don’t shy away from the 2t of red pepper flakes - the spiciness mutes significantly during cooking to a low tingle.
GaryPDX
I came to a recipe very similar to this. I make the spaghetti noodles ahead, al dente. Then I just stir fry the whole mess together in a wok. Love a little char. Love a little sprinkling of scallions when I plate it.
Wendy C
Honestly, this felt like way more work than it was worth. It took far more liquid than called for, and lots of watching and turning to get the noodles evenly coated/cooked. Though it ended up being tasty, it wasn't magic. Would not make again.
Delia_ATL
I accidentally bought gluten free spaghetti and didn’t want that, so I used a box of fettuccine instead. The cook time was slightly longer but the final product was fantastic! I tripled the garlic also, because why not?
Carol S
Yoo hoo. The article accompanying the recipe in today's Times mentions that the inventive chef uses GARLIC POWDER, not sliced garlic. I imagine that makes a difference, since a powder would likely coat the spaghetti strands, which has to have some effect on charring.
Berk
Didn't want to break the spaghetti, so my 12-inch pan was slightly too small. But, it was so good (great reviews from the family) that I might buy a 14-inch pan just for this dish. I don't know how I never knew about this spicy spaghetti dish that is cooked like risotto - it appears that Stanley Tucci recently covered this in his show (the dish also to his amazement)... It's going on the regular rotation in our kitchen!
JK
The ‘broth’ is the result of mixing tomato sauce and water.
Joe from Lansing
This dish is absolutely perfect for the 'day after' any holiday or party. Or binge (if you increase the 'heat' sufficiently). It was just sublime to be able to just throw this together quickly and easily with ingredients we already had in the house. It's delicious twist on traditional red sauce. We like spicy, so we added extra red pepper flakes. We'll make this again, in the not too distant future. Probably New Year's Day, and maybe a day or two after the Super Bowl.
Scratching
Simple, satisfying, delicious, calls out for... Parmigiano. And, more garlic, to taste.
AB
This is in desperate need of some salt.
Steve A
One suggestion in lieu of trying to toast the pasta in the hot oil is to place the spaghetti on a baking tray in a 325 oven for about 5-7 minutes. Move ii or flip it do the pasta toasts or browns evenly. Then add it to the tomato sauce for final cooking.
Mike in NOLA
Here's a video of someone preparing this in a restaurant in Bari. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3lvKy_WD4
QUAASAM
Very nice. Added 1 tbsp olive oil before serving.
Marc Kagan
You have to trust yourself to let the sauce disappear each time before adding anew. On the third time i got it right and it was delicious.
Marcia
Too much red pepper for this household! But the pasta texture is excellent. And yes, watching a video helped.
Rex
How do you prevent the garlic from burning in this recipe, when you cook it until "starting to brown", then cook it for 10 minutes more?
vibha
Rating: 4.5/5 Restaurant quality Cooked half the quantity (fit perfectly in 12” skillet) This fed 4 perfectly well when served with a salad Changes made: - Bucatini instead of spaghetti - 6 cloves of garlic - 1 tablespoon of crushed red chili flakes (can add 1-2 teaspoons more) - Finish with a glug of chili olive oil - Served with burrata
Dominique
Easy to make and extremely delicious. We like spice so I added a few oz of Calabrian chili paste. So very tasty.
QUAASAM
Have done sooo many times. Always delicious.
Steve R
We have some close family friends from Bari, so I gave this a shot. It’s technique-driven, but I didn’t do my YouTube research, so ended up with something like undercooked dry spaghetti marinara. It was tasty, with deep tomato flavor, but nothing to repeat. Harder than it seems!
Mia
I thought this was delicious --- followed the homemade tomato sauce recipe HOWEVER when I saw all the step I lazied out and just put the sauce over regular boiled pasta and it was amazing :)
Ceejay
I've made spaghetti allassassina a few times and the transformation the spaghetti goes through is truly amazing! Warning though: it will make a total mess of your stove top! Do find a youtube to watch for technique, but the whole process is pretty easy.
Tom
My spouse, not known for consuming large portions of pasta, which she loves, not only loved this spicy meal, but she more than doubled her portion size. That’s a five star!
Cate
https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Spaghetti-all-assassina.html Video in in Italian, I just followed the chef's motions. The spaghetti was a fabulous blend of texture and deep roasted spicy flavour.
Vicki
Delicious! Next time I will cut back on the red pepper flakes. Ut was a bit too spicy for me. I broke spaghetti in half to make cooking easier.
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