Peppery Portugese Pasta

This Portuguese-inspired pasta builds a robust vegetable sauce from scratch, starting with a slow sauté of onions, carrots, and leeks until they soften and sweeten. That base gets hit with fresh chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, basil, and hot chili sauce for the peppery kick that gives the dish its name.

French beans go in during the last 10 minutes of cooking, adding a snap and bright green color to the sauce. Leaving the lid off during this final stage lets the liquid reduce and the flavors concentrate into something thick enough to cling to each strand of spaghetti.

Pile the sauce over cooked spaghetti, grate cheese on top, and finish with olives and chopped parsley. The olives add a briny saltiness that rounds out the heat from the chili sauce.

Kitchen Tips

• Sauté the vegetables low and slow for the full 10 minutes. Rushing this step means raw-tasting onions and tough carrots in the finished sauce
• Skin the tomatoes by scoring an X on the bottom, blanching in boiling water for 30 seconds, then peeling. The skins roll right off
• Start with less chili sauce and adjust at the end. You can always add heat, but you can’t take it back
• Cook the spaghetti while the sauce simmers so everything comes together at the same time

Variations

• Add sliced chorizo to the sauté for a meaty, smoky Portuguese flavor
• Swap spaghetti for penne or rigatoni, which catch the chunky sauce in their tubes
• Use fresh basil torn over the top at the end instead of dried basil in the sauce for a brighter herb flavor