Legend has it that this dish from Puglia was created when a drunk cook accidentally added uncooked spaghetti to a pan of simmering tomato sauce, after being distracted by a beautiful woman, says Nadia Caterina Munno.
Alerted to his mistake by the pasta catching on the base of the pan, he tried to save the dish by adding a tomato-paste broth, risotto-style. In the process, he invented this.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 60g tomato paste
- sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp Calabrian chilli flakes, or to taste
- 60g extra-virgin olive oil
- 400g tin of peeled plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 450g spaghetti
- whole fresh long red chillies (I like cayenne varieties such as Pinocchio’s nose), for garnish
Method
- In a medium pot, bring 1.4 litres water to a rolling boil over a high heat.
- Stir in the tomato paste until it dissolves to create a tomato broth. If necessary, season it with salt until it tastes like a seasoned soup and keep the tomato broth warm over a very low heat.
- Meanwhile, in a large, deep sauté pan, sizzle the garlic and chilli flakes in the olive oil over a low heat. Add the tomatoes and a heavy pinch of salt.
- Increase the heat to medium high and add the uncooked spaghetti (an alternative pasta shape you could also use here is the chunkier spaghettoni). Ladle in the tomato broth to keep the spaghetti just barely submerged, adding more as needed.
- Let the pasta cook until it sticks to the bottom of the pan and starts to burn slightly.
- Toss briefly and add a splash (60ml) of tomato broth to the pasta.
- Cook until al dente, allowing the pasta to completely absorb the liquid. Add 60ml tomato broth at a time as needed to finish cooking the pasta.
- Serve garnished with fresh chillies.
Taken from The Pasta Queen by Nadia Caterina Munno, published by HarperCollins at £22. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £17.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
-
Will regulators put a stop to Grok’s deepfake porn images of real people?Today’s Big Question Users command AI chatbot to undress pictures of women and children
-
‘All of these elements push survivors into silence’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
A running list of US interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean after World War IIin depth Nicolás Maduro isn’t the first regional leader to be toppled directly or indirectly by the US
-
Avatar: Fire and Ash – third instalment feels like ‘a relic of an earlier era’Talking Point Latest sequel in James Cameron’s passion project is even ‘more humourless’ than the last
-
The Zorg: meticulously researched book is likely to ‘become a classic’The Week Recommends Siddharth Kara’s harrowing account of the voyage that helped kick-start the anti-slavery movement
-
The Housemaid: an enjoyably ‘pulpy’ concoctionThe Week Recommends Formulaic psychological horror with Sydney Sweeney is ‘kind of a scream’
-
William Nicholson: a ‘rich and varied’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends The wide-ranging show brings together portraits, illustrations, prints and posters, alongside ‘ravishing’ still lifes
-
Oh, Mary! – an ‘irreverent, counter-historical’ delightThe Week Recommends Mason Alexander Park ‘gives the funniest performance in town’ as former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln
-
The ultimate films of 2025 by genreThe Week Recommends From comedies to thrillers, documentaries to animations, 2025 featured some unforgettable film moments
-
Into the Woods: a ‘hypnotic’ productionThe Week Recommends Jordan Fein’s revival of the much-loved Stephen Sondheim musical is ‘sharp, propulsive and often very funny’
-
Doreen Williams-James’ prickly pear juice recipeThe Week Recommends Jewel-toned, natural juice is a thirst-quenching treat
