Italian · dinner
25m
Total time
2
Servings
520
kcal
easy
Difficulty
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FAQ · Things people ask
This is one of Rome's livelier culinary arguments. Strict purists say no — cheese has no business in a dish built around chile heat and tomato acidity. Equally Roman cooks will grate a little Pecorino Romano at the table for salty, funky depth. If you go that route, use Pecorino (not Parmesan), add it at the table, not into the sauce — and skip it entirely if you want the dish to stay vegan.
Genuinely spicy. The name means angry, and the dish should carry real heat — not the polite background warmth of a pasta where one flake of chile was waved at the pan. Use 1–2 whole dried peperoncini or a generous teaspoon of coarse flakes for two servings. The tomato and olive oil will round off some of the edge, so what tastes aggressive raw will be well-integrated by the time it hits the bowl.
In peak summer, ripe fresh plum tomatoes — blanched, peeled, and crushed — will make a brighter, more delicate sauce. Outside tomato season, whole canned San Marzanos are the better call; they're harvested at peak ripeness and will outperform most supermarket fresh tomatoes year-round. Avoid canned diced tomatoes — they contain calcium chloride to hold their shape, which stops them breaking down into a cohesive sauce.
The sauce keeps well refrigerated for up to 3 days and actually improves overnight as the flavours settle. Cook fresh pasta to order and combine with reheated sauce, adding a splash of pasta water to loosen it. Don't cook the pasta ahead — it will continue absorbing liquid and lose its texture.
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