“Angry” Gnocchi, Fried Mozzerella Salad & Zucchini Sticks

Arrabbiata is one of our favorite sauces for pasta — it’s a garlicky, spicy tomato sauce and its name means “angry”. But garlic and spice make us happy! That’s why this is our weeknight standby pasta sauce.

Dustin’s Arrabbiata

2 1/2 TBS olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 TBS sugar
2 dried red chilies, chopped
a few leaves of fresh basil, torn
salt & pepper

• Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chilies and sauté until garlic is golden. Turn the heat off and let cool one minute (to reduce the tomatoes splattering). Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, and sugar. Simmer for at least 10 minutes.

• Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions (until they float to the top), and drain. Spoon on the arrabbiata sauce and finish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

To accompany the gnocchi, we tried this recipe for Arugula & Fried Mozzarella Salad with Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette from The Nest and it turned out great! There’s something so satisfying about fried cheese. I just love it. And the spicy arugula was delicious with the sweet vinaigrette.

And the frying continues! We’re not condoning this as a healthy meal, but when you have flour, egg and breadcrumbs already out (from making the fried mozzarella for the salad), and a wonderfully spicy tomato sauce for dipping, it just cries out for fried zucchini! We cut zucchini into strips, coated them in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, and fried them until just tender inside and golden outside. Mmmm…