Do you ever reach for jarred sauce? I do from time to time, especially on weeknights. Quality ones are made with a short list of fresh-tasting, flavorful ingredients, but then I almost always doctor that sauce up a bit.
Turns out I am in good company.
If I needed permission — or encouragement — to take this short cut, I got it from Ina Garten in her new cookbook, “Modern Comfort Food” (Clarkson Potter, 2020), in which she makes a Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo using jarred arrabbiata sauce.
Arrabbiata sauce is like marinara’s sexy cousin. Garten also includes a recipe for the sauce in her cookbook. It makes about 4 cups, but calls for a whole cup of garlic cloves, about 3 heads, as well as crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper, along with fennel seeds and a generous splash of red wine.
It takes about an hour to make, including about 30 minutes simmering time and the time needed to peel all that garlic.
The sauce’s spiciness — jarred or homemade — makes it the perfect base for the fra diavolo sauce, which means “Brother Devil.” The light, tomato-based sauce is heated up with dried or fresh chile peppers and most often served with seafood and pasta.
For the Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo, Garten recommends ramping up the arrabbiata with thinly sliced, sauteed red onion, more crushed red pepper flakes, white wine and, of course, more garlic.
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I tried the dish both ways, making her homemade sauce and using the jarred one (she recommended Rao’s), and, frankly, could not tell that much difference. Both produced a warm pasta doused in a flavorful sauce that is born to be eaten from a big bowl on a cold night.
Don’t like shrimp? Make it with sauteed chicken or your favorite sausage — or skip the meat completely.
Garten adds crunch by sprinkling buttery toasted breadcrumbs tossed with parsley and pepper. It’s the perfect finish.
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