Spicy Vodka Pasta

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5 from 4 votes

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Chris Joe

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1 shallot medium, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic grated
12 oz tomato paste
3 tbsp vodka
1.5 cup heavy cream
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb pasta
2 tbsp butter unsalted
2 oz parmesan freshly grated
2-3 basil springs

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallot, grated garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook and sweat until fragrant 3-4 minutes (do not brown).
Add tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, and cook until dark red and caramelized, about 5 minutes.
Add vodka to deglaze the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes until the alcohol has cooked off. Add cream and mix to combine.
Salt pasta water and cook pasta to al dente. Immediately add to sauce.
Add pasta water as necessary, parmesan, butter and fresh basil and mix over low heat. Serve immediately with more parmesan and enjoy!

Notes

vodka - Don't be scared of the vodka in this recipe! It will get cooked off and will NOT leave any kind of alcoholic taste. The small amount of vodka in the recipe does two main things: 1. it keeps the cream from separating, 2. it adds depth to the sauce and concentrates the flavors without adding any flavor of it's own.

Cook the Tomato Paste - You should cook your tomato paste until the color has turned brick red - this is the most important step! Undercooked tomato paste will result in an inferior sauce.

Pasta Water - Save your pasta water! The sauce will thicken over time, especially when mixed with the pasta, so save some of the pasta water to loosen as needed and create the creamy consistency you want just before serving.

Serve in Warmed Bowls - This is such a small but impactful thing - serve your pasta in warmed bowls! I always recommend this for sauces with cream or parmesan cheese, as the sauce will thicken faster when sitting in a cold bowl. How I warm up bowls is with the leftover hot pasta water (or use fresh hot water, if you don't have enough) and then dump the water out right before serving (to keep my bowl warmed for as long as possible).

Nutrition