Welcome to Mangia Monday – the blog! I have been posting recipes to Facebook since January 2017 (Wow! Time flies!), and I have been thinking about making this a more organized experience for almost two years. It took a global pandemic, a course called Future Proof and an unexpected gap year for my daughter to make it happen, but here we are. Something good is coming out of 2020. Yay!
I still plan to post a lot of recipes of other food bloggers, because that is what I cook at home, but I did realize that I do have quite a few of my own recipes and family recipes and I actually kind of enjoy the process of recipe development. (Most of the time!) I put up 12 of my favorite recipes from my Facebook Mangia Monday posts to get started, and my goal is to add at least one recipe a week to this blog from now on.
This Easy Date Night Pasta with Vodka Sauce is probably the very first recipe I created. It was a staple in our early days of marriage in the late 90’s in New York City, when both time and money were in short supply. Somehow, it always always felt special, and I love that it is now my kids’ favorite meal, too. Whenever I ask do you want [anything] or pasta with vodka sauce, they ALWAYS chose this. It’s hard to argue since dinner can be on the table in literally 30 minutes and I usually have all the ingredients in the house.
The history of this ubiquitous pasta dish is not fully known (Is it Italian or Italian-American?), but it became popular in the 1980’s and has been on practically every Italian restaurant menu in the US since. It is traditionally served with the penne pasta shape, but in our house, the first choice tends to be Alce Nero Conchliglie or fusilli as they really catch the delicious sauce.
The addition of Calabrian chilis to my recipe is new, inspired by the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka at our favorite Italian restaurant in Hong Kong, Carbone. We just had Carbone takeout last night, and it is definitely not an exact match, but for an at home version, it is pretty darn good. Calabrian chilis are NOT easy to find in Hong Kong, so if anyone sees them, please let me know! Right now, I am paying a ridiculous price to ship them here with Ubuy every time I run out. In the US, my son says they usually have them at Whole Foods, and I think it is pretty easy to order them online as well.
I encourage you to add your own spin to this – less cream, more cream, half and half or light cream, add meat (or even shrimp), more tomatoes, skip the vodka or hold the parsley. I love this sauce with tortellini or gnocchi, too. This recipe is very forgiving and easy to adjust on the fly. You can even make the sauce in advance and reheat it, but I never do because it is so easy!
Here are the Calabrian chilis we use, and the pasta shape that we prefer. Just a heads up that these are affiliate links, so I will receive a small portion of the sales if you purchase through these links!
Easy Date Night Pasta with Vodka Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb (500 g) dried short pasta
- Kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp olive Oil
- ½ cup minced onion
- 1 14 ounce can (400 g) crushed or diced tomatoes
- ⅔ to ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ to ¾ tsp Kosher salt
- ½ to 1 tsp black pepper
- ⅓ cup vodka
- 3-6 Calabrian chillies, stems removed and finely chopped or ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup grated or finely shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley optional
- ½ lb (226 g) cooked Italian sausage or chicken strips optional
- ¼ lb (113 g) chopped prosciutto optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (I use approximately 1 T of Kosher salt.) Add pasta and stir immediately to separate all the pieces. Cook according to the package directions, stirring occasionally. (It is okay for the pasta to be slightly underdone as it will cook longer in the sauce later.)
- While pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat the oil and the butter over medium heat until all the butter melts.
- Add the onion and sauté until tender and translucent but not browned, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, cream, salt, pepper and chilis. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If adding meat, do so now.)
- Add the vodka and continue cooking for 2-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vodka evaporates slightly and the sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low or turn off if pasta isn't ready.
- When pasta is ready, reserve ½ cup of cooking water in a glass measuring cup. Drain the pasta in a colander. If your sauce pot is big enough, add the pasta to that. If your skillet is not big enough, put the pasta back in the pot it cooked in and you can add the sauce to that. Sir to combine well over very low heat for about 2 minutes. (You can add a bit of the pasta water 1 T at a time if you think it needs more liquid.)
- Serve immediately over your favorite short pasta shape. We like Alce Nero Conchliglie di Grano Duro, but penne, fusilli, rigatoni, shells, bowties, and even tortellini or gnocchi work well. Serve topped with grated Parmesan and parsley, if desired. (Sauce can be made ahead and reheated later. Reserve some pasta cooking water to mix in if it needs a bit more liquid when combining.)
