October is National Pasta Month as well as Italian Heritage Month, so I am coming together with Appetito every Wednesday throughout the month to share an Italian-American-inspired pasta dish.
These are dishes that feel familiar, invite conversation, and give us another reason to gather around the table. For our first week, we’re starting off with a bang: spicy vodka. There’s something about a bowl of spicy vodka pasta that makes everyone want to pull up a chair. Luscious tomato sauce, cream, and just enough heat—it’s a fitting place to begin
My version gets its heat from Calabrian chili paste, one of my favorite ingredients. I use tomato paste to keep the sauce nice and luscious and smooth, while shallot and garlic gently flavor the extra virgin olive oil before being removed. Their flavor stays behind, giving the sauce an aromatic foundation without interrupting its velvety texture.
Once the tomato paste has cooked, I add the vodka and stir until the sauce comes together. Then comes the sea salt, black pepper, and Calabrian chili paste, which cook for a few moments before I add the cream. The finished sauce has a little acidity from the tomato, warmth from the chili, and that subtle, clean bite from the vodka.
To finish, I top the pasta with beautiful, creamy Lioni Latticini burrata. As it meets the warm sauce, its richness softens the heat and makes each bite a little more indulgent. It’s a generous finishing touch for a dish meant to be shared—and a delicious way to begin a month of cooking together.
Pasta with Spicy Vodka Sauce
4
servings5
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1 lb. 1 mezze rigatoni
3 Tbsp. 3 extra virgin olive oil
1 1 shallot, peeled and halved
1 large 1 garlic clove, peeled and lightly smashed
1 tube 1 tomato paste (about 4.5 oz.)
1/4 cup 1/4 vodka
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 Tbsp. 1/2 to 1 Calabrian chili paste, depending on desired heat
1/2 cup 1/2 heavy cream
2 Tbsp. 2 butter
1/2 - 3/4 cup 1/2 - 3/4 finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
reserved pasta cooking water, as needed
Lioni Latticini burrata, for serving
fresh basil leaves, for serving
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with sea salt.
- Add the mezze rigatoni and cook until very al dente, about 2 minutes shy of the package instructions; the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Before draining, reserve about 2 cups of the pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add the halved shallot and smashed garlic, positioning their cut surfaces against the pan.
- Cook gently, turning occasionally, until fragrant and lightly golden, about 5–7 minutes.
- Lower the heat if the garlic begins to brown too quickly.
- Remove and discard the shallot and garlic, leaving the infused oil in the skillet.
- Add the tomato paste to the infused oil.
- Cook over medium-low heat, stirring and pressing the paste into the pan, until it deepens to a brick-red color, about 3–5 minutes (keep it moving so it cooks evenly without scorching).
- Briefly remove the skillet from the heat and pour in the vodka.
- Return to medium-low heat and stir until incorporated, loosening any tomato paste from the bottom of the pan.
- Cook until the sharp alcoholic aroma mellows, about 1–2 minutes.
- Add the sea salt, black pepper, and Calabrian chili paste.
- Stir and cook for another minute or so to bring everything together.
- Reduce the heat to low and gradually stir in the heavy cream until the sauce is smooth and evenly blended. Let it gently bubble for 1–2 minutes. If it looks too thick to coat the pasta, stir in a splash of the reserved pasta water.
- Add the drained mezze rigatoni and about ¼ cup reserved pasta water.
- Increase the heat to medium-low and cook, tossing frequently, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce clings to the ridges, about 1–2 minutes (add more pasta water a little at a time as needed; the sauce should be luscious and flowing, with enough to coat every piece).
- Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Add the butter and finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, tossing until melted and incorporated (add another small splash of pasta water if needed to keep the sauce glossy and smooth).
- Divide the pasta among bowls or spoon onto a serving platter.
- Add the burrata over the warm pasta.
- Finish with fresh basil.
- Serve immediately, while the sauce is silky and the burrata is just beginning to soften.
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