My friend Luigi Speranza, who runs a pasta factory in Brooklyn called La Trafila, made me this quick vodka sauce for supper one evening, only leaving out the vodka, said Mateo Zielonka. I enjoyed it so much I’ve since recreated it at home.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 360g dried rigatoni
- 30ml/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 80g tomato purée
- 1⁄2-1 tsp chilli (hot pepper) flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 250ml double cream
- 1⁄2 bunch of basil (about 15g), leaves only
- parmesan or pecorino (vegetarian, if necessary), grated, to finish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the garlic and fry for a minute before adding the tomato purée and chilli flakes. Stir together and fry for 5-7 minutes until the tomato purée mixture darkens; it will start catching on the bottom of the pan, but that’s what you want to capture all the flavour.
- Reduce the heat to low, pour in the cream and mix well – I like to use a balloon whisk. Scatter over the basil leaves, mix again and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Leave to one side while you cook the pasta.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil before adding salt, then add the rigatoni and cook it until it is al dente, following the instructions on the packet.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a ladleful of the cooking water, then add the pasta to the sauce. Toss or swirl together until the pasta is well coated in the sauce, adding some of the cooking water if you think it needs loosening a little.
- Check the seasoning before serving with a generous topping of parmesan or pecorino cheese. Green beans with lemon would be tasty alongside.
- To make a vegan version: replace the dairy cream with the same amount of oat cream. Finish the dish with nutritional yeast or pangrattato (crispy toasted breadcrumbs).
Taken from "Pasta Pronto: Simple, Speedy Recipes to Make Again and Again" by Mateo Zielonka.
Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Metaverse: Zuckerberg quits his virtual obsessionFeature The tech mogul’s vision for virtual worlds inhabited by millions of users was clearly a flop
-
Frank Gehry: the architect who made buildings flow like waterFeature The revered building master died at the age of 96
-
Is MAGA melting down?Today's Big Question Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Laura Loomer and more are feuding
-
Frank Gehry: the architect who made buildings flow like water
Feature The revered building master died at the age of 96
-
6 lovely barn homesFeature Featuring a New Jersey homestead on 63 acres and California property with a silo watchtower
-
Film reviews: ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Is This Thing On?’Feature A born grifter chases his table tennis dreams and a dad turns to stand-up to fight off heartbreak
-
Heavenly spectacle in the wilds of CanadaThe Week Recommends ‘Mind-bending’ outpost for spotting animals – and the northern lights
-
One great cookbook: Natasha Pickowicz’s ‘More Than Cake’the week recommends The power of pastry brought to inspired life
-
It Was Just an Accident: a ‘striking’ attack on the Iranian regimeThe Week Recommends Jafar Panahi’s furious Palme d’Or-winning revenge thriller was made in secret
-
Singin’ in the Rain: fun Christmas show is ‘pure bottled sunshine’The Week Recommends Raz Shaw’s take on the classic musical is ‘gloriously cheering’
-
Holbein: ‘a superb and groundbreaking biography’The Week Recommends Elizabeth Goldring’s ‘definitive account’ brings the German artist ‘vividly to life’
