sheet pan cherry tomato and calabrian chile pasta sauce.
spicy and lightly sweet, this sheet pan pasta sauce comes together in 15 minutes and dresses up any pasta with heat.
Serves: 4 Cook time: 15 minutes
Get excited: not only is this a pasta dish, but it's a 15-minute, no prep pasta dish! Seriously, the only prep is opening the tomato package and crushing the garlic. And, because I'm lazy, it can all be roasted, mixed, and mashed up on the same sheet tray. Start to finish, one pan. Well, and the pot the pasta cooks in. Sorry.
Calabrian chiles. How cool do they sound? Chic, right? Seems like they're popping up everywhere lately, and I had to find a jar to use. They're pretty easy to find at the grocery store, and will likely be in the Italian section of the international aisle. If not, I'd try the jarred peppers section of the condiments aisle. And if all else fails? Your local italian market will carry them. And if that fails too? Amazon.
You want to look for the crushed Calabrian chile in a jar like this. You can also find a similar jar at Trader Joe's called "Italian Bomba". I haven't tried it, but it will yield similarly delicious results. The Trader Joe's jar has seasoning, so there will be a difference if you use it.
Now here's the thing. I was super stoked to try these chiles, as trendy as they'd become. I was a little shocked to find them... fruity. Seasoned vets of the kitchen will say, "Didn't you read the jar? It says fruity right on it." and to that I'd say, no, I did not read the jar until I had a mouth full of calabrian-chile-chorizo-meatball and was grimacing at my mistakes.
Truth is, chorizo works really well with calabrian chile, but you have to do a few things to the chile to make it taste magical first. Now, I'm not taking all the fun away from the chiles here- they are still very hot and pretty fruity, too, but with these adjustments the flavor makes a little more sense. First- sugar, to cut the acidic, bitter taste. Combined with tomatoes, it's a lot of acid that is only amplified by spice. A little bit of sugar balances that out, similar to a marinara.
Next, I added salt to cut some of the fruitiness. You don't want it to be salty (unless that's your thing, then, fine) but you do want to bring out the savory flavor of the chile. After all, it's a pasta sauce. I added a sturdy teaspoon and a half to the sauce, and I'd recommend you adjust your amount as needed.
Finally, a dash of cream. This was almost a vegan recipe until I decided it needed one more thing to cut the fruity flavor. Similar to vodka sauce, this will give the sauce an orange-red hue. Since the sauce is pretty chunky, it won't thicken anything or make it a cream sauce, it will simply alter the flavor. And for the record, it will still be pretty spicy, so I wouldn't worry about losing heat.
To save dishes, mix it all on the sheet pan, or transfer to a sauce pan if you'd prefer. If you want a creamier, smoother sauce, transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. It's very customizable- but easiest way is right on the pan. Even the garlic will be tender enough to mash!
Seriously easily weeknight meal - oh, and perfect for this cold and flu season.. talk about sinus-clearing.
calabrian chile pasta sauce ingredients
cherry tomatoes: Bright, fresh, lightly sweet cherry tomatoes make for a great pairing to the chile. Plus, super easy to roast. Mine were crumpled and bursting in about 12 minutes, but depending on your oven it may take up to 15. You can use a variety pack or just red, it does not make a difference. The pack I bought was a standard 10 ounce package- you'll want two of these for a full four servings. 10 ounces makes about a cup of sauce.
calabrian chiles: As noted above, you'll want to look for a crushed, jarred calabrian chili instead of whole peppers. These are usually packed as though they are pickled and carry a slightly acidic flavor. I address this in the recipe by using sugar. Calabrian chiles are also surprisingly fruity, which I included salt and cream to balance out. It's not an everyday flavor, but if you like hot, you should definitely try it!
garlic: You can't add too much garlic here, in my opinion. I used 5 small cloves, and I recommend using smaller cloves so that they soften quickly in the oven and mash easily into the sauce. Bigger cloves may take 15-20 minutes to fully soften. Of course, you can always blend the ingredients together, too.
sugar: Sugar is pretty commonly used in tomato-based pasta sauces to balance out acidity. I find it helpful here since the calabrian chiles are a little acidic and are being mixed with always-acidic tomatoes. Of course, the chiles are pretty sweet themselves, so some salt is needed, too.
cream: You could technically skip the cream, especially if you like the taste of the sauce without it. It's just a dash to balance some of the harsher flavors out, and plus, gives the sauce a nice body similar to a vodka sauce. If you don't have heavy cream, you can use half and half or a splash of milk. For a vegan substitute, I would recommend coconut cream (not coconut milk).
pasta: I used angel hair, my favorite- but this sauce would be delicious on other long pastas like bucatini or spaghetti, too. It's not very dense or creamy, so I wouldn't use alfredo-staples like shells or fettuccini; but it would be delicious on rotini or farfelle.
calabrian chile pasta sauce pairing options
This recipe is purposely vegetarian, but would be rounded out well with a few meat options- I also included some ideas for delicious side salads and veggies, too.
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