Cheap, quick and good enough for Gigi Hadid. We do Pasta Alla Vodka
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I never thought I would be “influenced” by Gigi Hadid. Much less in matters culinary.
But the fact she made Pasta alla Vodka and chucked it on TikTok now means everyone is making it—and by extension (because I never saw Gigi’s version but picked it up from the foodies) me.
Two things really appealed to me—the simple ingredients and the preponderance of cream and cheese. So we gave it a go and now everyone in my household is addicted. We made it twice last week and twice the week before. It is the current family fave and it will be yours too if you haven’t already tried this recipe.
What you’ll need:
A generous pour of olive oil
One finely diced red onion.
Between 2-4 garlic cloves (we are a garlic-loving family and whack in four)
About 100 grams of tomato paste
300 mls of thickened cream
Vodka. Yes this is weird in a kid-inclusive pasta recipe but you cook the alcohol out. I halve the recommended amount to one very large splash (some recipes say three-quarters of a cup).
As much grated Parmesan as you can handle, we use at least 150 grams (or nearly the entire block)
A teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
A teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Basil leaves, chives, spring onion or any herbs you like to serve.
Directions:
Pour your oil over the base of your pain and add your finely chopped onion and garlic and cook gently.
When translucent, add the tomato paste. Make sure to stir and keep the heat low so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add your chilli flakes and vodka and keep stirring. Add the cream and grated parmesan and once everything is combined and the sauce is looking silky, turn off the heat.
Put your pasta on to boil. Large rigatoni really works best with this. When al dente, add them to the sauce. You can thin the sauce out with half a cup of pasta water too, although we like ours thick.
Add whatever fresh herbs you want and make sure you season really generously.
This sauce is unctuous and comforting. It is best served with a crunchy salad (isn’t everything better with salad?)
It takes ten minutes to throw together and we only managed to save leftovers once. It was a bad idea anyway because everyone fought over them.
