I woke up the other day with a hella craving for a dish that I last had probably 14 years ago. It was one of those things that friends and I would go eat when we were in high school and had no money. There was this great Italian chain in Tokyo called Capricciosa that served all their pasta dishes family style in giant portions. If I recall, their signature spaghetti with tomato-garlic sauce went for about 1700 yen ($16-ish) at the time and easily fed four hungry teenage boys, or two REALLY hungry boys. Add a cheese filled rice croquette with meat sauce and you're all set. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
The dish, while by no means high brow or fancy, is just one of those guilty pleasures that's tangy, garlicky, spicy, and oh so yummy. It's actually seasoned well enough that you really don't need meat in it to make it good, although you most certainly could add some in there if you prefer a richer taste.
So, off to cyber-land to see if I could recreate the dish. After about 20 minutes of looking around, I found a couple Japanese blogs/postings that had different opinions on how it's made. Given that this is a "corporate recipe" of sorts, I did find out from a site where former employees of restaurants give out "forbidden recipes" that there were some interesting things that go into it. I'll go through the method -- it's easy and fun, and easily adaptable. Try it and see if you like it.
Capricciosa-style Tomato-Garlic Spaghetti
Yield: 4 Servings
8-10 Cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 dried Japanese Chiles, sliced, OR 1 TBLS Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (adjust up or down depending on heat level desired)
1 ts Dried Oregano
3/4 TBLS Chicken Base or 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1 ts MSG (this is a corporate chain recipe, what did you expect... omit if you're squeamish about this)
1 24-OZ Can Whole Peeled Whole Tomatoes
2 cups + extra Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Powdered Cofee Creamer (really)
3 TBLS Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Slice Garlic into thin slices and place into a cold pan over medium/medium-low heat along with Chiles/red pepper and oil. Carefully toast the slices until crunchy and golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. DO NOT BURN THEM. Remove and reserve on paper towels.
Saute onions in the same pan until translucent, then add the entire can of tomatoes with juices into the pan. Bring to a boil and add back in the garlic. Turn down the heat to low, add in the chicken base and MSG, then simmer for 20 minutes, making sure to not let the sauce burn. Once the tomatoes are cooked through, smash them into chunks with a mixing spoon, and then add the grated cheese and coffee creamer to the pot. Mix, cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down a bit further, and the cheese and creamer have melded with the sauce.
Serve on top of freshly boiled spaghetti (slightly thick spaghetti works really well here), top with more grated cheese and enjoy.
Happy cooking!
43 comments:
I have tried to find the new address of the Capricciosa, after living in Tokyo and Kobe for 17 years and being retired for another 12 years. At last I have it and I will go with my family when I am there next week. Yipee! I went there often and I loved the Tomato-Garlic pasta! Do you have the recipe for another one of their specials? It is a large ball of rice, with cheese inside and bread crumbs on the outside and deep fried. It is served in a sea of tomato sauce. My daughter and I always ordered it when there.
Thank you and enjoy your cooking! Andrea
Okay we tried the recipe and for some strange reason the sauce was not red. We also cooked it with ground turkey to give it texture. I think the chicken bouillon made it quite salty too. Once we mixed the creamer and cheese, it turned pale white. So my wife added Prego and it turned it red and a little yummy.
We ate at Capricciosa on Guam many times and this recipe didn't come close. Nice try though.
I have eaten several times at the Capricciosas in Osaka and Honolulu. Their Garlic Spaghetti is one of my favorite dishes and I have searched for the recipe for years. I tried this recipe last night and was thrilled!! It turned out just as I remembered - so good!! I followed the recipe exactly and the only thing I would change next time is to add more garlic. Thank you so much for finding this recipe!!
Anyone have the recipe for Penne Arabiata? Its their spicy garlic dish.
You are so WONDERFUL! Capricciosa was one of my FAVORITE restaurants in Japan. I loved the penne spicy tomato-garlic dish. Thank you for the recipe! Paula
Hi! We have a capricciosa here (not in Japan) and I was wondering if you have the recipe for their italian vegetable meat soup? I love it and I can't seem to find it anywhere. Thanks!
Can't wait to try this recipe! We fell in love this dish at Capricciosa in Guam & then again in Hawaii! Thanks for sharing.
Capricciosas was my favorite place to eat while in Japan. IF ANYONE has the recipe for the spicy arrabiata PLEASE post it. I have been trying for months to recreate it or find it on the web. Thanks!
Thanks for posting this. I'm looking forward to trying your recipe out.
Re: Tenorio Family (sauce turned out pale white)
That's strange. Maybe the canned tomato was a smaller size or something. If you make another go at this recipe, try a different brand of canned tomato or add a little tomato paste.
Keep in mind that the restaurant version of this ragu is much lighter in color than "Prego". I've eaten at Capps on Guam many times and the sauce always came out light in color.
Being away from Guam and craving Capricciosa spaghetti, I was frantically searching the net for a recipe that would fill my belly. Thank you for your recipe! Although the Tomato-Garlic has never been my favorite (I love the eggplant-spinach and seafood spaghetti), this one really hit the spot. It even has that Capricciosa taste that I think I can use as a base for my favorites. Please post more recipes!
This recipe is not even close! I just wasted my time and money.
They have a Capri in the Shimitori in Kumamoto. They also have it at the Tokyo Dome next to the Adidas shop in Suidobashii!
Not sure what the people who are saying this "didn't come close" are thinking. I live in Osaka and Capriciossa was my first exposure to Japanese/Italian. Love the Silician rice ball, the long-gone green olive red sauce on green fettuccine, and of course this tomato garlic.
Tried it as listed and it came out just right. I added olive oil as the oil, btw, though I wonder if they do so at the real Capricciosa.
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Absolutely in love with Capricciosa on Guam. Being here in the states I find my husband and I crave our favorite dishes and wish we can find recipes for their signature dishes. Was wondering if u have recipes for a few of their dishes. If u or anyone else have the recipes for the spicy seafood linguine, seafood spaghetti, salmon spring rolls and their famous pumpkin pie please let me know. Email: myst2473@gmail.com thank u!
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I was so excited when I ran across your recipe. After 14 years on Guam, Cappricciosa is still my all time favorite restaurant....ever. I was so stoked to finally find S5. My hubby, being the awesome man he is, made this for me on Mother's Day. He followed it to a T and it...was...amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
My family and I enjoyed eating spaghetti con fungi and the rice balls. We miss eating there. If anyone has these recipes I would appreciate them.
This recipe is bang on! Great job and thanks.
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I'm excited to try this recipe! I think this would be the base for seafood spaghetti, also, which is one of my faves, so I'm going to attempt this and add tuna, calamari, mussels, etc...yum! Capricciosa is my all time fave restaurant as well. I was just in Guam for a 2 wk visit and I ate there 5 times!! Whenever friends invited me to dinner and asked where I wanted to eat, Capps it was! Can't wait to go home and eat more.
My other fave dish there is the shrimp and spinach rigatoni in creamy gratin sauce. I found a recipe online for creamy gratin and spinach, so I'm gonna try that as well and add shrimp. Can't wait yum! Wish me luck that both turn out good! XOXO -Capricciosa lover
Good recipe, I've added muscles to it and it was good. My only concern is the parmesian cheese seems to clump up as it cools. Did anyone else have this problem? I was thinking maybe its too much cheese, but still its almost stringy and very sticky everywhere. Any suggestions? I also toned down the garlic to about half. I like garlic, but 8 close is a bit much for my liking
Thank You, Thank You for the recipe, and posting for us! I made it the other night for dinner. All of us have been to Capricciosa and loved the way it turned out. DELICIOUS!
Now on to my next ... so can you share the creamy gratin and spinach?
I love Capricciosa! I have eaten there in Guam, Hawaii and Ikebukuro. I love the Calimari salad, tomato garlic pasta. Wish the Hawaii resto was still open.
I am going to pin and make this. Thank you so much. I lived in Tokyo 20 years ago and ate at Capricciosa a little too often. I have been hunting down the pumpkin gnocchi sausage in tomato cream sauce recipe ever since I got home. If you know how to find it, then I would be so grateful for our help. Many blessings upon you.
Sarah, I don't know if you check back here often but I humbly offer my approximation of the Gnocchi here https://dietmywayblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/pumpkin-gnocchi-with-tomato-mascarpone-sauce-and-sausages/ I've been making it for years since we left Japan. I hope you like it.
We enjoyed eating at Capricciosas in Japan many a time as well and since returning to the states have all lamented at our loss. Thank you for this recipe which is nearly perfect. I believe if we could get our hands on "CREAP" creamer it would be perfect.
I was hoping the code had been cracked. For those who've never heard of Cappricciocas simply have no idea! Guam is indeed lucky. I've heard the California and Hawaii ones aren't as good.
Indeed!
You know it!
👍
I feel for you be cause you've tried one of the best styles of Japanese/Italian dishes. Yup....Guam is so lucky the chain opened up here. Hope you've found some of those recipes!
This was really similar to the one I had in Saipan, when they had one there. On my second attempt, I doubled the garlic and cut them into a little thicker slices. A little bit closer to what we had. So good.
Would you happen to have the linguine salmon recipe?
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s a little taste of home. I make it for my family at least twice a month and use the sauce (sans creamer and cheese) as my pizza sauce.
It is especially enjoyable when subbing Italian stewed tomatoes and blending with an immersion blender at the end for a very creamy, smooth sauce (I have picky little eaters). The second addition of oil at the end to aid the emulsion is key!
I have a feeling that we prolly went to the same highschool lol...class of 98 though so quite a while back 😂😅😅. I miss this pasta and tried to have it when I went back several times, but sadly failed!
Great recipe thanks. I added the oregano in when I added the tomatoes, though that's not mentioned?
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