Spicy Vodka Rigatoni

Feeling down that you can’t snag that reservation at Carbone? Luckily this recipe brings the magic home.

Ingredients:
🍝 1 lb lumache or rigatoni
🍝 1 small onion, minced
🍝 4 cloves garlic, minced
🍝 3 tsp calabrian chili paste (be careful — each brand has varying heat!)
🍝 1 tube tomato paste
🍝 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
🍝 1/4 cup vodka
🍝 1/4 cup or less heavy cream
🍝 1/4 cup pasta water
🍝 fresh grated parm
🍝 olive oil
🍝 2 tbl butter


Instructions:
Bring pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve pasta water!!

Heat a saucepan, drizzle in a few tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Add in diced onion (I reco dicing VERY FINELY!) and sauté for a few minutes before adding in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Add in tomato paste and calabrian chili paste, stirring around for about 5 minutes. Let it crisp up on the bottom of the pan. Add in the vodka, helping to de-glaze. Let it simmer for about 3 mins for the alcohol to burn off. Add whole can of crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes or until you can easily break apart the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.

Reduce heat, add in heavy cream. Heat must be lowered so the cream does not curdle! Add in a little pasta water and grated parm, mixing well. Combine in with pasta adding more pasta water and parm until desired consistency is reached. Plate and garnish with fresh basil.