Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb Rigatoni boil and drained
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 Calabrian chili pepper finely minced
- 4 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup vodka
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
- salt to taste
Instructions
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Season a large pot with olive oil and butter on medium heat. Add the onion. Season with a generous pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes, cook until onions are softened and translucent.
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Add the Calabrian chili peppers and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
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Add the tomato paste mix to combine with the other ingredients, cook the tomato paste for approximately 5-7 minutes, letting the tomato paste brown on the bottom of the pan. If the pan is drying up, add a little more olive oil.
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Add the vodka into the pan, and scrape up all golden brown bits from the bottom. Mix all of the ingredients together. Adjust the heat to low and add the heavy cream. Stir until combined and let it simmer on low heat.
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Add the cooked pasta, 1 cup pasta water and shredded Parmesan to the sauce and stir together. Taste to make sure the levels are salt are to your liking. If you want the sauce to be more “saucy,” add more pasta water. Enjoy immediately.
Notes
- If you can’t find Calabrian chili peppers you can use crushed red pepper, use 1 tbsp.
- If you want a smoother consistency for the sauce, blend the sauce in a blender or use immersion blender.
- This pasta dish works well with certain pastas like rigatoni, shells, not so much with spaghetti or linguine.
- You can use more Calabrian chili peppers for extra heat.
- I have used Trader Joes Bomba sauce which is pretty much fermented crushed Calabrian peppers. But if you can’t find the TJs Bomba sauce, you can use any brand of bottled Calabrian pepper sauce. This can be found in the sauce aisle of the grocery store!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: dinner, entree
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: carbone pasta, rigatoni pasta, vodka pasta