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Marinara and arrabbiata tomato sauce

Salsa alla marinara · Marinara sauce · Arrabbiata sauce · All arrabbiata · Sugo finto · Alla marinara

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Marinara is a quick Italian-American tomato sauce; arrabbiata is a distinct Roman tomato sauce with red chilli. They share a simple cooked tomato-and-garlic base but are not the same sauce.

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Two bowls of cooked tomato sauce: herb flecked marinara and chilli flecked arrabbiata.

Two tomato sauces with one base

In this entry, marinara means the quick Italian-American tomato sauce. Food writer John Mariani describes the sauce name as Italian-American usage, rather than a common Italian name for that sauce. The phrase alla marinara means sailor-style, but it should not be treated as an exact synonym for the U.S. marinara sauce.

Arrabbiata is a distinct Roman tomato sauce with garlic, oil and a pronounced chilli heat. In Romanesco, arrabbiato describes a burning or extreme flavour. It is not simply chilli added to one fixed marinara base.

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Origins of the tomato sauce

Folk accounts say Neapolitan ships' cooks, returning from the Americas after tomatoes reached Europe, invented the sauce in the mid-1500s; other accounts credit the wives of Neapolitan sailors. These accounts are uncertain.

The earliest documented recipe is Antonio Latini's Lo Scalco alla Moderna, in two volumes of 1692 and 1694. It is described as the first Italian cookbook to include tomato sauce, and its sauce was closer to a modern tomato salsa.

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The arrabbiata dish

Arrabbiata is linked to Lazio and to Rome, where it is dated only approximately to the 1950s and 1960s, when spicy food was fashionable in Roman cooking. No inventor or restaurant is named. In Rome, food cooked with a lot of oil, garlic and peperoncino is called arrabbiato, as in broccoli arrabbiati.

The main ingredients are tomatoes, garlic, peperoncino, parsley and extra virgin olive oil. Grated Parmesan or pecorino romano can be added at the table. The sources give no quantities or method.

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Making and serving the sauce

The marinara base is tomatoes, garlic, onion and herbs, with variations that add capers, olives, spices or a dash of wine. The sources give no cooking times or quantities, so a cook judges the thickness by sight.

In Italy, a sauce called sugo finto, or fake sauce, is similar to the Italian-American version. Spaghetti marinara is a separate dish in Australia, New Zealand, Spain and South Africa, with seafood in tomato sauce; in Italy seafood pasta sauces are usually called alla pescatora.

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Storage and acidity

The sources give no storage, canning or acidity advice. A tomato sauce is not always acid enough for the same canning process, and one with onion, oil or other vegetables may need its own tested method before it is stored at room temperature.

Refrigerate or freeze leftovers, and do not treat this page as a shelf-stable method.

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History

Folk accounts credit Neapolitan sailors' cooks, or their wives, with inventing the sauce in the mid-1500s, after tomatoes reached Europe. These accounts are uncertain.

The arrabbiata dish is dated only approximately to the 1950s and 1960s in Rome, with no named inventor. It appears in the films Roma (1972) and La Grande Bouffe (1973).

Ingredients

Scaling: source batch only

TomatoesCooked down with the aromatics.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
GarlicCooked in olive oil at the start.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
Onion (optional)
Amount not stated
Optional in the marinara base.
Olive oil
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
Dried chilli (peperoncino)Added to the oil for arrabbiata.
Amount not stated
Arrabbiata only; quantity not given.
Parsley or oregano and basilHerbs for finishing.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
Grated Parmesan or pecorino romano (optional)
Amount not stated
Optional, served over the pasta.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Acidity of a tomato sauce kept at room temperature

A tomato-and-garlic sauce with added onion, oil or vegetables may not be acid enough for the same canning process as a plain tomato sauce, and the sources give no canning or acidity advice.

Hazard source

Refrigerate or freeze leftover sauce; use a tested canning process before storing any version at room temperature

Control source

The sources give no canning or storage advice. A tomato sauce with vegetables or oil is not automatically acid enough for a shelf-stable jar.

  1. Warm olive oil in a pan and cook garlic in it; for arrabbiata, add dried chilli at the same time.
  2. Add the tomatoes and onion, with the herbs for the marinara, and season with salt.
  3. Simmer the sauce until it thickens. The sources give no cooking time.
  4. Finish with parsley, or with basil and oregano for the marinara, and serve with pasta. Grated Parmesan or pecorino romano can be added for arrabbiata.

Places

Naples

Traditional preparation · Region evidence

Folk accounts place the sauce on Neapolitan ships in the mid-1500s; they are uncertain.

See Napleson the mapLocation source 1 →

Rome

Traditional preparation · Locality evidence

The sources dates the arrabbiata dish approximately to the 1950s and 1960s and names no inventor.

See Romeon the mapLocation source 1 →

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