Arrabbiata sauce

I've always been a big fan of arrabbiata, and, myself, when I make it I use olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, crushed plum tomatoes, salt, pepper, and then garnish with chopped or torn parsely. I'm curious about the history of this dish, what part of Italy it originates from, and what the native versions of this dish use.

Some questions: In Italy, is it always made with garlic? Or is it sometimes onion? Or perhaps a mix of onion and garlic (I seem to recall reading somewhere that a lot of Italian dishes use one or the other, but not both.) Always flakes or can fresh chiles be used? Always olive oil or is animal fat ever used (either lard or rendered pancetta)? Some recipes I've seen call for basil. Some I've seen call for only parsley as a finishing garnish. Some call for both. Is the garlic chopped and added to the oil, is it merely sweated with the oil? Is it served with cheese (and, more generally, is cheese pretty much omnipresent in finishing Italian pasta dishes), if so what kind (I'm guessing pecorino.) Is penne always the typical pasta for this dish, or are other shapes used?

Anyhow, I'm guessing Antonius would be best to answer this question, but anyone who knows, please chime in.

edited to add: Just realized that Antonius hasn't posted in awhile (and yet, he feels strangely omnipresent), so any general ideas or resources that would answer this kind of question would be appreciated.