15 Minute Spicy Arrabiata Sauce

It’s the New Year and like me, you probably made a resolution to eat healthier, right? So you’re probably wondering why I’m posting about the great Carb Devil: pasta. I get it.

Thanks to the low-carb diet fads during high school, I spent years thinking of pasta as the enemy. Ugh, don’t you just wish you could go back in time and slap some sense into your high school self? About that guy you had a crush on, those low-rise jeans…

So many cringe-worthy moments.

BUT this pasta with its wonderful colorful tomatoes that are bursting with just as much flavor as you’d expect and the RED PEPPER FLAKES AND BASIL!! This is swoon-worthy. This is the pasta to make you forget all about those years you thought pasta would instantly make you chubby.

Actually, this is also a do-gooder pasta, scroll to the bottom to see how this pasta is helping the Capital Area Food Bank!

Arrabiata sauce is probably my favorite sauce to make because it’s insanely simple, loaded with flavor and of course, packs some heat. Anything with red pepper flakes and I can get on board.

Here’s a weird food confession: Tomatoes are my favorite, I pretty much live on them in the summer. Sliced up in big wedges and sprinkled with salt and pepper is a summer staple for me. Or, you know, wedged between two toasted slices of bread with crunchy lettuce, a light schmear of mayo and crispy bacon. And topped with a glorious avocado. That too.

But I HATE raw grape tomatoes. Flat out refuse to eat them unless they are covered in Ranch dressing. However, grape tomatoes sliced in half sauteed in a skillet or roasted in the oven…that’s a whole different ball game.

Letting grape tomatoes hang out in a skillet with olive oil, basil and a generous amount of red pepper flakes does magical things.

It creates an amazing sauce in about 15 minutes. That’s just 15 minutes between you and your couch/fuzzy blanket and Netflix and a lovely bowl of pasta. Side note: Has anyone watched Making a Murder?! Netflix sure knows how to reel a girl in!

Actually, do you know what’s the best part? This pasta is helping Capital Area Food Bank!

San Giorgio’s #PastaForGood campaign is donating boxes of pasta to the food bank and you can help! Here’s how:

Snap a pic of your favorite pasta mealtime moment, whether dining out, sitting around your dining room table or at a friend’s house (for inspiration, check out photos on PastaForGood.com)
Share your pic on the San Giorgio Pasta Facebook page wall and be sure to use the hashtag #PastaForGood
San Giorgio will make a donation of one pasta box to Capital Area Food Bank for each pasta mealtime moment shared, up to 25,000 boxes (5,000 each to its five Pasta for Good food bank partners)

Get cookin’ + get snappin’! 😉

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15 Minute Spicy Arrabiata Sauce

Author: Lauren

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Angel Hair Pasta
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb. grape tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used 2)
1 teaspoon basil

Instructions

Cook pasta according to directions on package.
In a medium skillet on medium-low heat, add the olive oil and toss in the chopped garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the grape tomatoes, red pepper flakes and basil.
Let simmer covered for about 10 minutes.
Add the cooked pasta (drained) to the skillet and toss to combine.
Garnish with basil.

Notes

I had every intention of using fresh basil for this recipe because I love its aroma but Trader Joe's was all out of basil and my corner store fresh basil just looked sad. So I used what I have and tossed in dried basil.