Sam’s Rigatoni alla Vodka
My husband and I met on the East Coast, where good Italian food is prevalent. Sam’s favorite meal to this day is anything from the hot deli case at a good authentic deli. We used to get penne alla vodka, buffalo chicken sandwiches and hot chicken parm as a part of our normal Saturday adventures (ahh to have a leisurely stroll and late lunch without kids- I honestly have a hard time remembering those days. Ha!). Anyway, it was Sam’s birthday a couple of days ago and I tried to make him his favorite meal. Garlic bread, Caesar salad (IYKYK) and rigatoni alla vodka. The vodka sauce is creamy and garlicky and everything we want in a good Italian feast. I like to use rigatoni instead of penne because I like the bigger noodles- I feel like the sauce clings better to them. Just typing this makes me want to eat it again… Maybe we’ll go for round two tonight.
Sam’s Rigatoni alla Vodka
Ingredients:
16-oz rigatoni pasta
1 T olive oil
½ white onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
5-oz tomato paste
¼ c + 1 T vodka
¾-1 c boiling salted water
¾ c heavy cream
½ t red pepper flake
Salt and pepper
1 ½ t white sugar
Parmesan cheese for serving
Directions:
1.) Boil a large pot of water on the stove. Heavily salt it. As soon as it’s boiling, add in a pound of rigatoni. Cook for one minute less than the package calls for.
2.) As the water is boiling, finely dice half of a large white onion. Add oil to a pan, then the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in minced garlic. The more the merrier!
3.) Lower the heat to medium-low and add 5 ounces of tomato paste on top of the onions and garlic. Take your time to really incorporate the tomato paste and make sure the onions are fully coated. Pour the vodka on top, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
4.) Ladle out ¾-1 cup of boiling pasta water (it doesn’t matter if the pasta is cooking in it or if it’s just plain salty water at this point. Either will work at this stage!) and mix into the sauce. Add in the heavy cream, red pepper flake, salt and pepper to taste, and white sugar. Stir.
5.) Strain out the rigatoni and add it into the sauce. Mix it together until thoroughly coated. Add in additional pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Serve with fresh grated parmesan and enjoy!
Pro tip: I like to start with just under a teaspoon of salt and go from there. Add more or less based on your preferences. Same calls for the red pepper flake. I think the pepper flake is necessary to this dish and doesn’t necessarily make it spicy. But start small if you prefer!
