assassins spaghetti

Spaghettiall’assassina, aka assassin&#39;s spaghetti, is a popular cult recipe from Bari in Puglia which is simply dried spaghetti cooked in a tomato passata (puree) broth using a method known as ‘risottata’. The result is slightly burnt, crispy caramalized spaghetti with an intense spicy tomato flavour. One to try!

Spaghetti all’Assassina (Assassin’s Spaghetti) from Puglia

320 g spaghetti or vermicelli (12 ounces) (fine spaghetti is better. I used spaghetti Di Martino)

tomato

tomato paste/concentrate

ml extra virgin olive oil. (1/2 cup)

garlic

fresh peperoncino (red chili pepper)

sugar

salt and pepper (to taste)

cherry tomatoes (optional)

Peel the garlic and chop 1-2 cloves finely. If using a fresh red chilli cut into small pieces. Remove the seeds if you prefer it less spicy.

Prepare a broth made with water, 2/3 of the tomato passata/purée (1:1), and the tomato paste and salt, and bring to a boil and simmer. You want the broth to be a bright red and tasty, but still a broth. This broth needs to be hot when you add it to the spaghetti, otherwise you will lower the cooking temperature for the pasta.

In a cast iron pan, add ½ cup of olive oil, 2 garlic cloves (one whole one chopped), and red chili pepper according to how spicy you want your spaghetti to be. Cook the garlic over a high flame until golden then remove the whole garlic clove and pour in the 1/3 of undiluted tomato passata/purée. To temper the acidity from the tomatoes, you can add 1 tsp. sugar. 

Spread the passata over the whole pan with a wooden spoon and let it reduce and thicken slightly. At this point put the uncooked spaghetti in the pan, distributing the pasta a way that it lies on top of the sauce. NB the passata will spit when first poured into the pan so take care not to get burnt

Wait for the underside of the spaghetti to start caramelizing before turning it over. This must be done carefully, a little at a time using a spatula. Let the otherside of the spaghetti start to crisp a little and then pour in a ladle of the hot tomato broth. It’s better not to pour it over the spaghetti but to add it to the sides of the pan.

At this point the spaghetti should start to soften enough that you can move and stir it gently with a wooden spoon. Move any pasta strands that might have stuck to the bottom of the pan and allow the tomato broth to spread. Once the tomato broth has reduced and the spaghetti starts to stick a little again add more broth.

Keep repeating this step (adding tomato broth and stirring the spaghetti) until the spaghetti is coated in the sauce and cooked. If you run out of tomato broth, you can add a little water. NB when finished, this dish is relatively dry and crispy, not saucy.

I added cherry tomatoes which I had first sautéed in the iron pan before starting on the pasta. I removed them from the pan and then just added them back when my spaghetti all’assassina was ready. This step is optional.

Serve your spaghetti all’assassina immediately topped with Parmigiano, stracciatella or just as is.

Spaghetti all&#39;assassina is a spicy pasta that&#39;s made by cooking the pasta with tomato broth in a pan until charred and slightly crispy yielding a pasta that&#39;s as rich in texture as it is in flavor.

Spaghetti all'Assassina (Assassin's Spaghetti)

water

passata (tomato puree)

tomato paste

salt (to taste)

olive oil

red cherry peppers

non-premium spaghetti (see notes below)

Bring to a boil the broth ingredients then turn down to a simmer.  Season with salt to taste.

Heat a large pan to a touch higher than medium heat and add the olive oil and the garlic.  Cook the garlic until it is deeply golden then remove it.  Add the chili peppers and cook for another 30 seconds.

Add 1 cup of the passata and spread it out in the pan.  Cook the passata for 1-2 minutes or until it thickens slightly.

Add the pasta and spread it out into the pan.  Let it start to brown (about 1-2 minutes) then add a ladle of the hot broth.

Move the spaghetti around the pan and let it darken. Once the liquid is absorbed, add another ladle and repeat the process until the spaghetti is cooked and very charred.

The final product will be dark red with bits of burnt pieces.  Serve with grated cheese or toasted breadcrumbs.  Enjoy!

For the spaghetti

Great recipe! Quick question, what happens to the 7 garlic cloves after sautéed and removed? Do you just discard them or return to the pan at some point?

Yum! It takes patience but it was fun and worth it. Love how you explain everything so well in your videos .

Excellent, excellent!!!, and fun to make too. Brings me back to Sunday night leftovers when my mother would reheat the leftover pasta from our Sunday pasta dinners, (but even better). The hot peppers are a great addition. Thanks for bringing me back to my childhood days Jim!

I really enjoyed this recipe. The hot cherry peppers make all the difference.

My mom used to make a casserole using Franco American Spaghetti.  Same consistency without the flavor. But we always fought over who got the crunchy pieces. This was that and everything more. And not only was this delicious, but I could see serving it as a side, or even as a bed for a protein. Easily a 10 out of 10 Foh-get-about-its!

This is an amazing dish! I will make it again but will need to make some adjustments. I used a 12-inch cast iron skillet and so had to break the spaghetti in half to get it in the pan, which I'd rather not have to do. I have a 14-inch stainless steel skillet, but I'm hesitant to use that, as I'm afraid my spaghetti will burn too much. Also, when I added the tomato broth to the garlicky pepper oil, it EXPLODED all over the stove and floor and parts nearby! I quickly put a spatter screen on the skillet, but I wasn't quick enough. Tomato products spatter like crazy, especially in hot oil and a shallow skillet. Next time, I'll have the spatter screen RIGHT THERE and will take the pan off the heat for a minute or two before I add the first round of tomato broth. The dish tasted wonderful, though, and I'm always happy to learn a new pasta dish. Thank you, Jim!

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Today we're making spaghetti all'assassina or assassin's spaghetti.  This is a great dish for spicy noodle lovers.  I showed about 6 different jars/brands of Calabrian chiles at the beginning of the video, but feel free to use just one type.  I hope you enjoy the video along with the pepper contest at the end!

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ASSASSIN'S SPAGHETTI PRINT RECIPE:
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INGREDIENTS WITH GRAM AMOUNTS (Gram amounts are estimates)

For the red broth
20 ounces water (566g)
14 ounces passata (tomato puree) (396g)
1 teaspoon sugar (4g)
4 tablespoons tomato paste (56g)
salt to taste

For the spaghetti
½ cup olive oil (100g)
7 cloves garlic
4 large red cherry peppers seeds and stems removed, chopped, 
Calabrian chili paste or dried chiles - to taste
1 cup passata (tomato puree) (240g)
1 pound non-premium spaghetti (454g) see notes below
salt and pepper to taste

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Assassin's Spaghetti: The 5 Ingredient Fried Pasta Dish You Need To Make

This unusual pasta dish from Bari in Puglia is made by cooking the pasta and spicy sauce together in a frying pan. Don’t be afraid to let it really burn on the edges and get crispy.

Spaghetti All’assassina

Tomato Purée

Water

Salt

Garlic Clove

Chilli Flakes

Tinned Chopped Tomatoes

Spaghetti

Heat a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil and the tomato purée and cook for a minute. Add the water and ½ the salt and mix to combine. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat and set aside. This is your tomato broth.

Meanwhile, crush the garlic. Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large frying pan (ideally cast iron) set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the tinned tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and stir in the remaining salt.

Place the spaghetti directly on top of the sauce, then ladle in a quarter of the tomato broth. As the broth simmers and the pasta cooks, gently move it around a bit with a spoon. You want to keep adding broth as it reduces, allowing the pasta to cook but also to catch in places and even burn on the edges.

Once the pasta is al dente, stop adding broth and let the spaghetti fry and toast slightly in the sauce, if you need to. This is an observational process; you’ll have to keep an eye on it and adjust to your liking.

Ultimately, you want to end up with quite a ‘tight’ tomato sauce, and pasta which is cooked through, crispy and charred in places. Serve on warm plates with a drizzle of good olive oil and an extra pinch of chilli, if you like.

Really tasty - it was a hit with all of us!

So tasty just don’t make it with gf pasta 😂

It took a lot longer to cook than 15 minutes, but that's probably because I couldn't use a nice big frying pan on my stovetop, like the chef suggests. It took a bit more patience and stirring to make sure as much of the spaghetti as possible went a bit crispy. Just want to point that out to anyone looking to give this a try. Other than that, this is a really simple but tasty recipe, will definitely make again!

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