Maltagliati all’Arrabbiata

Maltagliati all’Arrabbiata
Calabrian Chili, Burrata, and Fresh Basil
Served with an Amalfi Spritz

Buon Natale! Merry Christmas – this is a brilliant vegetarian dish for the holiday with its beautiful striking red and green colors. But how could it possibly be any good? The pasta, maltagliati, literally translates to “badly cut” and the sauce arrabbiata translates to “angry”! Turns out this bad-cut-angry pasta dish is actually deliziosa…and perfect for the holidays.

Maltagliati all’arrabbiata Recipe

Maltagliati

My dear friend was shopping in Rome and came across this pasta shape. A few months earlier, we had thoroughly enjoyed a dish made with these pasta “rags” at Bobby Flay’s new restaurant in Caesars Palace called Amalfi. Upon his return from Italy, I was the happy recipient of a box of this uncommon Roman pasta. Grazie, amico mio!

Maltagliati was originally made from scraps leftover from a tagliatelle cutting session resulting in random shaped flat pieces of pasta made from semolina and egg.

Cook 250 g (one box) maltagliati in boiling salted water al dente, about 6 minutes.

Calabrian Chilis

Calabrian chilis have a spicy, smoky, fruity, unique taste due to the terrior where they are grown in Italy. They are very flavorful and not overly hot. The Calabrian chilis add a depth of flavor to the arrabbiata sauce beyond the usual chili flakes.

sugo all’arrabbiata

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 t. chili flakes

24 oz. marinara sauce (we love Rao’s) or homemade

4 T. fermented crushed Calabrian chili hot pepper sauce (we love Trader Joe’s)

several large basil leaves torn, plus more leaves for garnish

3 T. unsalted butter

kosher salt to taste

burrata cheese – two balls depending on size, at room temperature

Method:

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chili flakes and cook about one minute. Add marinara. Stir in Calabrian chili sauce and torn basil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Taste for salt.

Toss cooked pasta with sauce.

Divide among 4 to 6 plates. Top with sliced burrata and garnish with plenty of fresh basil.

Aim to get a portion of burrata and some fresh basil in every bite…the combination of sweet creamy cheese with toothsome pasta, smoky spicy sauce and herby basil is just heavenly.

Amalfi Spritz from Bobby Flay

Amalfi on Instagram:

Seat at the Amalfi Bar ✅, Plate of fresh pasta ✅, a refreshing Amalfi Spritz ✅. Who’s in?

The Amalfi Spritz

1½ oz. Aperitivo Cappelletti
3 oz. prosecco
1-2 oz. club soda
Orange half-moon slice

Fill a spritz glass with ice cubes. Add the Cappelletti first, then top with the prosecco and club soda. Do a quick stir with bar spoon from the bottom of the glass to pull up the bitter. Garnish with the orange slice by inserting it between ice and glass and push it down into the drink.

Salute!