Ina Garten’s Penne Arrabiata Has an ‘Unbelievable’ Amount of Garlic & Is the Ultimate Comfort Meal
Garlic people, you’ve clicked on the right recipe. This one is absolutely for you. Ina Garten shared her recipe for penne arrabiata and its whopping one cup of garlic will not only satisfy your garlic craving but will keep the vampires away for a good long while, too.
“Arrabiata sauce is really kind of a classic Italian pasta sauce made with tomatoes,” Garten says in the below video. “Mine has an unbelievable amount of garlic in it, which I’m going to cook very slowly in olive oil.” Doing so will sweeten the garlic and take out some of its punch.
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To make peeling all 24 cloves of garlic less of a chore, Garten recommends blanching them first in boiling water for about 15 seconds. This will loosen the skin and make the cloves so much easier to release.
The garlic cloves will cook in the hot olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until their outsides are just barely brown. And while they’re simmering, you can chop up your canned and drained San Marzano tomatoes in the food processor. Then, once your garlic is done cooking, add it to the chopped tomatoes and chop again.
Transfer your tomato and garlic mixture back into the hot oil with some diced fennel seeds, dried pepper flakes, red wine, salt, and pepper. And while all those flavors meld together, you can finally boil up your penne until it’s almost done — Garten likes to add the penne to the sauce to finish cooking. She also adds some fresh basil at this point to give the sauce a “nice, fresh, peppery flavor.”
You can use a bit of the pasta water to loosen the sauce a bit before serving. “You can really smell the garlic,” Garten adds. “But it’s soft, not sharp.” Add some parmesan cheese, and you’re ready to eat!
Get the full recipe for Garten’s Penne Arrabiata here, stock up on loads (and loads) of garlic, and add it to your dinner rotation. Not today, vampires. Not today.
Before you go, check out Garten’s best dinner recipes below:
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