Spaghetti All'arrabiata

At the library I was drawn to a book titled My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea. 50 great chefs wrote the recipes for the meals they would want to eat as their last meal, what music would be playing during these meals, etc. I flipped through the pages describing caviar, pigs and truffles to Jamie Oliver's page. His last meal would be spaghetti all'arrabiata. This is a simple enough recipe that has a lot of heat from chilies. Mmmmm...



JAMIE OLIVER'S SPAGHETTI ALL'ARRABIATA



7 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 dried chilies or peperoncino, crumbled or finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 (14 ox) cans good plum tomatoes, sieved, or 3 1/2 cups passata
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
18 oz spaghetti
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons stale (I have no idea why they have to be stale) bread crumbs
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (optional)
Fried sage leaves (optional)

Heat about 5 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan over low heat. Add the chilies, garlic and onion and cook gently for around 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let them cook until the sauce is quite thick, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti in the salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the red wine vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To make the pangrattato, heat the remaining oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs and thyme, if desired, and fry until the bread crumbs are crispy (about 3 minutes).
Add the drained pasta and the reserved pasta water to the sauce, and toss to coat. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with the pangrattato over the top. If you like, you can garnish with fried sage leaves.

Pasta with tomatoes and chilies. This sounds like a dream dish.