Diavolo Sauce

Method

1. mash5 min
   by hand, in the can or a bowl
   tomatoes crushed between the fingers into ragged pieces, seed pockets opened, juices kept. A blender whips air into the pulp and the finished sauce sets pale and foamy instead of deep red — this is a texture decision, not a shortcut avoided
2. infuse5 min
   cold oil, cold pan, chilli flakes in from the start, brought up slowly
   olive oil + chilli flakes warmed gently until the oil takes on colour and smells hot. Capsaicin is fat-soluble and barely soluble in water, so blooming it in oil is what spreads the heat evenly through the whole sauce. Chilli stirred in at the end gives an uneven sauce with sharp pockets
3. saute4 min
   low, garlic added to the warm chilli oil, until translucent and no darker
   + sliced garlic (+ anchovy, stirred until it dissolves completely) cooked until the slices go translucent and smell sweet but take no colour. Garlic browns around 150°C and the bitter compounds it forms then never cook out — pull the pan off early rather than late
4. reduce25 min
   tomatoes and salt in, uncovered, lazy simmer, wide pan, stirred every few minutes
   + crushed tomatoes + salt (+ white wine first, reduced almost dry; + oregano), simmered uncovered until a spoon dragged across the base leaves a track that fills in slowly and the oil separates into orange pools at the edge. Salt now rather than at the end: it draws water out of the pulp so the sauce reduces rather than just sitting there
5. fold3 min
   off the heat, herbs in last
   + torn basil + parsley (+ shrimp, given 3 minutes in the simmering sauce first), stirred until the leaves collapse. Basil's aroma is mostly volatile and boiled off within a minute, so leaves added at the start contribute colour and nothing else. Taste for heat and salt, and add sugar only if the tomatoes are metallic and sharp