Spicy Weeknight Marinara Sauce With Fusilli Recipes

Steps:

• Set a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat until hot. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the red wine and chile flakes in the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring 6 quarts water to a boil over high heat. Season with 1/2 cup salt. The pasta water should taste like seawater.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and season with salt. Cook until the onion becomes translucent, 5 to 8 minutes, adding water if the pan gets too dry. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic softens, about 1 minute. Add the carrots, sugar and the tomatoes with their juices. Use a wooden spoon to break up some of the tomatoes and season with salt. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the tomatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 8 to 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and continue cooking until the tomatoes fall apart, another 8 to 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add pasta water, if necessary.
• Cook the pasta: Add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom as it cooks. Cook the pasta until it is al dente (chewy but not hard or raw tasting), 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving some of the pasta water in case you need it to adjust the sauce.
• Assemble the dish: In a large bowl, toss the pasta with half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Tossing the pasta directly with the cheese before adding the sauce gives the pasta a richness and saltiness.) Stir the sauce into the pasta. Taste for seasoning. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if needed to create a sauce that lightly coats the pasta. Tear half of the basil leaves and stir to combine. Serve immediately with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil leaves.

Steps:

• Bash up the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar or Flavor Shaker until coarsely crushed, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins and put into the pan, really breaking it up using the back of a spoon. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to color and the fat has rendered slightly, then crush it once more so it resembles coarse mince. Add the bashed-up fennel seeds and chillies and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat becomes crisp, golden brown and slightly caramelized.
• Stir in your oregano, then pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat down to low while you cook your pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the package instructions. When the pasta has cooked al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss it in the pan with your sausagemeat. Coat the pasta in all the lovely flavors then add the butter, Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water. This will give you a lovely loose, shiny sauce. Taste and check for seasoning, then serve immediately with a little extra grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top.