Roasted Arrabiata Casarecce
The first thing I didn’t expect to see on the streets in Accra, Ghana were boiling vats of water for pasta. There was pasta around us, mostly spaghetti that locals were selling on the streets. I couldn’t help but feel super curious by all of it, especially when nearly every hotel menu offered pasta in some form. Ghana’s food scene is fulfilled by spice. If you want to feast like a true Ghanaian, you will have to bring on the heat!
While digging through my memories and brainstorming recipe ideas I remembered seeing Pasta Arrabiata on some menu somewhere! And I thought it would be clever to bridge two worlds into one. A Lazio, Italy region classic could not be more perfect for a Ghanaian palate. It’s the spice baby!
My sauce will kick you in the booty and make you feel warm and fuzzy all at the same time. It’s rich with lots of fat from olive oil and slabs of butter that cooked slowly into the sauce as it roasted in the oven. It’s thick and viscous, not quite how a tomato sauce should be, but what I think is the perfect consistency for richness and cozy fall weather. Cheese is not common in a Ghanaian diet, but there is no darn way I couldn’t include it here. So with further research, I found that farmer's cheese is quintessential in Ghana if and when there is any cheese to be had or used at all. It’s like a mascarpone ricotta combo, creamy but crumbly and perfect for the top of a baked pasta. And I love the addition of breadcrumb for a little buttery crunch factor.
Gather the Goods
YIELD: 4- 6 servings
1 pound Casarecci
olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, grated
1 can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 fresh cherry pepper, cut in half
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into thirds
1 cup farmers cheese, room temperature and crumbled
Buttered Breadcrumb
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
Make It
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sweat 3 cloves garlic in olive oil until lightly browned and toasted, it may start to clump together (this is ok!)
Add the cherry pepper and let the pieces sizzle a few seconds in the oil allowing its inner aromatics to kick!
Pour the tomato into the pan and sprinkle salt over the top and stir to combine. Taste the sauce in the “raw stages”so you know how different the end product will be.
Grate two more raw garlic cloves into the sauce and stir.
Drizzle the sauce with about two tablespoons of olive oil and tuck the butter gently into the surface of the sauce.
Roast the sauce in the oven for about 1 hour until it has reduced by half. Stir occasionally to incorporate the fat!
In the last 15-20 minutes boil salted water for pasta! Cook the pasta until al dente, and save some of the starchy water.
Melt the butter over medium high heat until golden. Add the breadcrumb and toast until light brown. Set aside.
Coat the pasta with a little bit of sauce and a little bit of the cooking water and heat over medium high heat to create a fluid saucy emulsion.
Put one layer of pasta in a small casserole dish and crumble the farmers cheese over top. Then spoon another layer of pasta in the casserole dish and top with another layer of crumbled cheese.
Put the oven on broil and bake until the cheese is toasty (this will go quick! Like in seconds so watch carefully!)
Sprinkle the breadcrumb over top and eat once cooled slightly.
