Spaghetti all’Assassina (Assassin’s Spaghetti)

Forget everything you know about making spaghetti—this recipe for spaghetti all’assassina is about to turn everything you thought you knew on its head. To make this pasta dish, you forgo the ordinary boil-in-water method to instead slowly cook the pasta in tomato sauce and garlic, creating noodles that are soaked in the flavors instead of just coated in them. The dish is also known as assassin’s spaghetti because it’s so spicy. Another unexpected feature? The pasta is burned—on purpose!

What is spaghetti all’assassina?

The spaghetti all’assassina recipe stands apart from other pasta dishes thanks to the way it’s prepared. Rather than cooking spaghetti in boiling water, the noodles are cooked in a single layer at the bottom of a skillet in a tomato sauce blended with chili and garlic oil. The sauce barely covers the pasta; and as it cooks away, more liquid is added to the pan. This is the same method used to make risotto, which allows the pasta to slowly absorb the liquid while the tomato sauce caramelizes in the pan.

Because the spaghetti remains at the bottom of the skillet as it cooks, it also gets a light char. The blackened bits add more flavor and give the pasta a blend of crispy and al dente textures.

This authentic dish is relatively young compared to other recipes for old-world Italian food. It was created in the 1960s by the Al Sorso Preferito restaurant located in Bari in southern Italy. But why is it called assassin’s spaghetti—or killer spaghetti? It earned the name because of the process of burning the spaghetti (killing it). The name also likely has to do with the fiery spiciness of the pasta, which may feel almost lethal to sensitive palates.

Ingredients for Spaghetti all’Assassina

• Passata tomato sauce: Bottled or boxed passata is stocked in the same aisle as other tomato and pasta sauces. It’s a puree of uncooked tomatoes with no added seasonings. If you can’t find passata at the store, use canned tomato sauce made without added spices or sugar.
• Extra virgin olive oil: Use a high-quality olive oil brand for this recipe, as it’s the base for the rich tomato sauce.
• Garlic: This recipe is all about flavor, so use fresh garlic. Speedily mince garlic cloves with a sharp knife or a food processor.
• Red pepper flakes: The assassin’s spaghetti recipe is also all about the heat. This spicy recipe heats crushed red pepper in olive oil to release its flavor and spice.
• Hot water: To cook the spaghetti using the risotto technique, you’ll need to slowly add a hot tomato broth. Start the broth with boiling water.
• Tomato paste: Along with some of the passata sauce, tomato paste is blended with the hot water to make the simple tomato broth.
• Spaghetti: Don’t break the spaghetti! The whole, uncooked strands lay flat in the bottom of the skillet, where they lightly char as they cook.
• Salt and pepper: Add salt and pepper as directed, but keep more nearby. Taste the pasta just before serving and add more seasoning if needed.

Directions

Step 1: Make the base sauce

Sarah Tramonte for Taste Recipes

Stir the hot water, 1 cup passata sauce and the tomato paste together in a large heatproof container. Set this tomato broth aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add in the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper; stir everything for 30 to 45 seconds, just until the garlic begins to brown. Pour the remaining 2 cups passata sauce into the pan. Stir and simmer for two to three minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened.

Editor’s Tip: Use a 12-inch or larger skillet for this spaghetti recipe.

Step 2: Add the spaghetti

Sarah Tramonte for Taste Recipes

Spread the spaghetti across the bottom of the skillet, pushing it down into the tomato sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over the noodles. Add in a splash of tomato broth just to cover the top of the pasta. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium.

Editor’s Tip: The sauce splatters quite a bit as it cooks, so be prepared! Have a splatter guard handy to place over the pan, and keep paper towels nearby. Protect your clothes with one of our picks for home cook aprons.

Step 3: Slowly simmer the pasta

Sarah Tramonte for Taste Recipes

Let the pasta simmer in the sauce without moving it. When the sauce begins to look a little dry in the skillet, ladle in more tomato broth to just cover the top of the spaghetti. Continue this process of simmering the pasta and ladling in more tomato broth when the skillet begins to look dry. As it simmers, use tongs to occasionally push the spaghetti strands apart so they don’t clump—but still keep them in a layer at the bottom of the skillet so that they can scorch a little.

Step 4: Flip the spaghetti

After about 15 minutes, use tongs or a spatula to flip the spaghetti over, moving half at a time, so that the other side of the noodles can blacken.

Step 5: Finish the spaghetti

Continue simmering and adding more broth until the pasta is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes total. (If you run out of tomato broth, use a splash of water.)

Once the pasta is cooked, raise the heat to medium-high and allow the spaghetti to remain in the pan for another three to four minutes until the bottom is slightly scorched. Remove the pan from the heat.

Editor’s Tip: The noodles should be just al dente, but they will also be a little chewy and crunchy in spots.

Step 6: Serve

Use tongs to twist up portions of the spaghetti all’assassina and place them on plates. Drizzle each portion with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the spaghetti with the optional grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese. Serve the pasta while it’s hot.

Sarah Tramonte for Taste Recipes

Spaghetti all’Assassina Variations

• Use fresh chili peppers: Instead of crushed red pepper, slice one or two red chili peppers and add them to the oil. Serrano or Thai chili peppers are two types of peppers that would work.
• Add fresh herbs: Chop fresh herbs like basil, thyme or oregano and sprinkle them into the sauce near the end of the cooking time or over the pasta just before serving.
• Make it less spicy: Reduce the amount of crushed red pepper to make a less lethally spicy version of all’assassina.
• Serve it with blistered tomatoes: Roast cherry tomatoes in the oven and spoon some over portions of spaghetti all’assassina. The fresh tomato flavor is a nice contrast to the caramelized tomato sauce.

How to Store Spaghetti all’Assassina

I personally think that a reheated spaghetti recipe with sauce is one of the best-tasting leftovers ever—and the same is true for a spaghetti all’assassina recipe! Let the pasta cool, then transfer it to an airtight container. Store the spaghetti and sauce in the refrigerator.

How long does spaghetti all’assassina last?

It’s important to keep spaghetti all’assassina tightly covered and refrigerated to protect the texture and quality of the dish. When stored this way, the pasta will last for up to five days.

Can you freeze spaghetti all’assassina?

Yes, you can freeze assassin’s spaghetti to have it on hand for meals down the road. Transfer the cooled pasta and sauce to freezer-proof bags with the air pressed out; if using a freezer container, fill it to full to nearly full so that there’s as little air as possible. Store assassin’s spaghetti in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw the pasta overnight in the fridge before reheating. The spaghetti may be a little softer in texture after freezing and thawing.

How do you reheat spaghetti all’assassina?

To reheat the assassin’s spaghetti recipe, transfer it to a small saucepan or skillet set over medium heat. Stir the pasta in the pan until it’s warmed through. If the pasta seems too dry, add a splash of leftover tomato broth or water to loosen it up. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave. Loosely cover the pasta in a dish and heat it in 45-second bursts, stirring after each one until it’s warmed through.

Spaghetti all’Assassina Tips

Sarah Tramonte for Taste Recipes

Can you use other types of pasta for spaghetti all’assassina?

The key to getting the blackened, crispy areas in the all’assassina is to use pasta shapes that can sit flat in the bottom of the skillet under a shallow layer of sauce. Spaghetti is ideal for this dish; however, vermicelli or linguine can also be used. Long fusilli is another possibility, though the thicker pasta will likely soak up more sauce than spaghetti would.

What else can you serve with spaghetti all’assassina?

Simple toppings to serve with the spaghetti all’assassina recipe include grated Pecorino Romano and Parmesan. Tame the heat in the pasta by serving it with creamy store-bought or homemade burrata or with a dollop of the straciatella cheese used to make burrata. To make a complete meal, I like to serve assassin’s spaghetti with baked meatballs and soft slices of pull-apart garlic bread.