Spicy Vodka Pasta
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This creamy, fiery pasta is a flavor bomb you won’t see coming.
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Pasta Preparation
1. Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a rolling boil. Salt generously—it should taste like seawater.
Sauce Base
2. In a deep skillet, render diced guanciale in olive oil over medium-low heat until crispy (4-5 minutes). Turn heat to medium, add sliced Fresno chilies and garlic with a pinch of salt, and sauté until fragrant (1 minute). Stir in sugar, then mix in gochujang and tomato paste. Cook 2-3 minutes until thickened and caramelized, scraping the pan bottom.
Pasta Cooking
3. Drop pasta (store-bought or fresh) into boiling water. Cook until al dente (follow package time or 2-3 minutes for fresh rigatoni).
Sauce Finish
4. Deglaze the skillet with vodka and water, scraping up browned bits. Pour in heavy cream, bring to a boil, then simmer 1-2 minutes. Taste for salt.
Final Assembly
5. Drain pasta (reserve some water) and add to sauce. Off heat, stir in grated pecorino and butter, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to emulsify (don’t overdo it!). Adjust salt. Serve topped with more cheese and black pepper.
Optional Fresh Pasta:
Image credit: Joshua Weissman
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 oz guanciale, cut into ⅛ inch (3mm) cubes
- 2 red Fresno chilies, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2.5 tsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp gochujang
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- ¼ cup water
- 1.5 cups heavy cream
- 1 lb dried rigatoni or homemade
- ¾ cup grated pecorino
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups semolina flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 cup water, at room temperature, plus more as needed
Pasta Preparation
1. Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a rolling boil. Salt generously—it should taste like seawater.
Sauce Base
2. In a deep skillet, render diced guanciale in olive oil over medium-low heat until crispy (4-5 minutes). Turn heat to medium, add sliced Fresno chilies and garlic with a pinch of salt, and sauté until fragrant (1 minute). Stir in sugar, then mix in gochujang and tomato paste. Cook 2-3 minutes until thickened and caramelized, scraping the pan bottom.
Pasta Cooking
3. Drop pasta (store-bought or fresh) into boiling water. Cook until al dente (follow package time or 2-3 minutes for fresh rigatoni).
Sauce Finish
4. Deglaze the skillet with vodka and water, scraping up browned bits. Pour in heavy cream, bring to a boil, then simmer 1-2 minutes. Taste for salt.
Final Assembly
5. Drain pasta (reserve some water) and add to sauce. Off heat, stir in grated pecorino and butter, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to emulsify (don’t overdo it!). Adjust salt. Serve topped with more cheese and black pepper.
Optional Fresh Pasta:
- Mix semolina and water by hand until a shaggy dough forms. Knead into a smooth ball, adding water sparingly if dry.
- Fit a stand mixer with a rigatoni extruder. Feed dough through at speed 6, cutting tubes to 2” lengths. Dust with semolina and refrigerate uncovered overnight to dry.
