SPICY RIGATONI ALLA VODKA😍

Hands down one of my favorite dinners to make, a classic vodka sauce with rigatoni and spicy sausage. It’s creamy, comforting, and will probably become a favorite in your house too! It also comes together in the same amount of time as it takes for your pasta to cook, perfect for weeknight dinners.

A CRUCIAL piece to making good pasta at home is:

1. Properly seasoning your water with salt prior to adding pasta. As Italians say, it should taste like the ocean

2. Cook your pasta to al dente, which means 1-2 minutes prior to the box instructions. It should still have a bite to it.

3. Don’t you dare throw away that pasta water! Always save 1-2 cups of pasta water prior to draining your pasta. That starchy water is like liquid gold and will help create a glossy sauce that sticks perfectly to your pasta. In Italy, this is called “saltate in padella”, which refers to when you finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, resulting in a much more flavorful marriage of ingredients vs just pouring the sauce over. When you add the pasta water to the pan, it may look a bit liquidy at first, but as you keep tossing you’ll notice it will get quite glossy.

Serves 4 (or you can easily cut this recipe in half if cooking for two). 

Ingredients:

For the Rigatoni Alla Vodka:

• 12oz rigatoni or medium shells pasta

• 1 lb Italian sausage (spicy or sweet depending on preference)

• 2 shallots, minced

• 2 tbsps olive oil

• 1 tbsp salted butter

• ½ cup tomato paste

• ¼ cup vodka (or broth for alcohol free)

• 6-8 cloves minced garlic

• 1 cup heavy cream

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan 

• 1-2 tsps calabrian chili sauce based on your spice preference (can sub for red pepper flakes)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Pasta water (note below)

Directions:

For the Spicy Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce:

• Get a pot of salted water boiling.

• Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add in the olive oil.

• Add the sausage, breaking up with a wooden spoon into crumbles, and cook until browned.

• Once almost browned, add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add in the butter and once melted, add the garlic and toast for 30 seconds.

• Stir in the tomato paste, cooking for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the tomato paste has deepened in color.

• Meanwhile, add your pasta to the boiling water and cook 1-2 minutes less than the box instructions.

• Pour the vodka into the pan with tomato paste and stir, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Cook on medium high heat until all the alcohol has burned off and there’s no more liquid in the pan.

• Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream until smooth. Add in the calabrian chili paste or red pepper flakes, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

• 1-2 minutes prior to the pasta being cooked, scoop out 1 - 2 cups of pasta water and reserve. Drain the pasta and add to the vodka sauce.

• Toss the pasta in the sauce, adding a bit of pasta water at a time until smooth and the pasta is well coated with the sauce. Add the parmesan cheese and a bit more pasta water and toss until silky. You may not use all the pasta water, you want just enough to get a silky sauce. 

• Serve immediately with more red pepper flakes and parmesan to taste. Enjoy!

Tip: keep some of the pasta water for reheating - the trick to not having dry pasta for leftovers is adding some more pasta water!