Fra Diavolo is a spicy tomato-based sauce used in Italian American cooking, often served with shellfish. It is believed to have been developed in the US and commonly includes olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and traditional Italian herbs. The sauce is thickened with various substances and flavored with wine, sherry, and anchovies. Crushed red pepper flakes are the main source of heat, but contemporary recipes may use other hot peppers and sauces. The sauce can also be served with chicken, beef, and pork.
Fra Diavolo, an Italian term meaning “devil brother,” is the name given to a number of hot sauces, usually tomato-based, used in Italian American cooking. Although some fravolo sauces are prepared and served over pasta without any other additions, most are prepared with one or more types of shellfish. Many Italian restaurants in the United States offer dishes such as shrimp, scallops or lobster fra Diavolo.
Although sometimes referred to as a Mediterranean specialty, there is little doubt that the fravolo sauce popular in America’s thousands of Italian restaurants was actually developed in the United States. While there are hot dishes called “diavoli” or “alla devil” in other regions of Europe, there is no such tradition in southern Italian cuisine. Additionally, the spicy robustness of most fravolo sauces is enough to overwhelm many delicate shellfish, especially lobster or scallops. This combination would be unlikely in the Mediterranean culinary tradition.
Through the wide variety of these sauces, the common ingredients are olive oil and garlic. Most recipes also call for tomatoes, either canned or fresh. If canned tomatoes are used, some chefs call for grating a small carrot to “cut” the bite of the canned tomato flavor. Traditional Italian herbs like oregano, parsley, and basil are called for in virtually every recipe, and onions are nearly ubiquitous.
If tomatoes are not used in the sauce, chicken or fish stock is usually used as the base. The sauce is thickened with a variety of substances, from roux to yogurt. Wine or sherry, or both, are used as flavoring agents, as are other traditional ingredients such as anchovies. When requested, finely chopped celery and peppers are sautéed and added to the sauce for both their flavor and texture.
What distinguishes fravolo sauces from other sauces is their spiciness. Traditionally, crushed red pepper flakes are the main source of this heat. Some contemporary recipes, however, call for other hot peppers and sauces, especially chiles and Sriracha hot sauce. Many modern recipes also encourage moderating the level of spiciness when delicate shellfish are an ingredient and use the shellfish themselves in preparing the broth, in the manner of a bisque.
While most fravolo sauces are served plain or with shellfish, there’s no reason to limit them to those ingredients. Chicken, beef and pork, and the sausages that come with them, stand up very well to the more peppery fravolo sauce. Some recipes call for the inclusion of these meats in the sauce; more often, however, the meats are grilled separately and the sauce is drizzled over them only when served.
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