30-60 min4 servingscontributed

Rigatoni alla Vodka

By Ivy Manning

4 Servings

30-60 min

Easy

Recipe Details

Course: Main Dishes

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Total Time: 30-60 min

Cooking Technique: Pressure Cook

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegetarian

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves medium
2 tablespoons tomato paste
14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup vodka
12 ounces dry rigatoni pasta
1 pinch red chile flakes
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

The provenance of this comforting pasta dish spiked with vodka is debated, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a popular Italian-American restaurant staple. The thinking is that the vodka tenderizes the tomatoes. Don’t worry, you can’t taste the alcohol—all you’ll detect is a delicious, creamy sauce with a little bit of heat. If you like spicy food, try using pepper-infused vodka for an extra kick.

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the butter in the pot, select Sauté, and adjust to Normal/Medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and vodka and simmer for 1 minute to boil off some of the alcohol. Press Cancel.
Add the rigatoni, red chile flakes, 2 1/2 cups cold water, 1 teaspoon salt, and several grinds of black pepper. Lock on the lid, select the Pressure Cook function, and adjust to Low pressure for 6 minutes. Make sure the steam valve is in the “Sealing” position and that the “Keep Warm” button is off.
When the cooking time is up, quick-release the pressure. Remove the lid. Add the cream and stir to combine. Let the pasta stand in the pot, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the sauce to thicken. Stir the cheese and basil into the pasta and season with salt and black pepper.

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About the chef

Ivy Manning

Ivy Manning is a Portland, Oregon-based food and travel writer and author of 10 cookbooks including her most recent title, Tacos A to Z- A Delicious Guide To Inauthentic Tacos (West Margin Press, 2023). Her work regularly appears in Cooking Light, Clean Eating, Eating Well, Better Homes & Gardens, and The Kitchn.com. She is a regular contributor to lifestyle brands like Fitbit, My Fitness Pal and The Spruce Eats. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Manning attended Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, followed by an externship at the award-winning Paley’s Place restaurant, stints at some of Portland’s best restaurants, and stages in Barbaresco, Italy and Chiang Mai, Thailand. She held the position of Salud Cooking School director at Whole Foods Market in Portland for several years and currently teaches classes at Bob’s Red Mill. Manning lives in a sweet bungalow in Portland, Oregon with her vegetarian husband Gregor, and her rescued Whippets, Astor and Remy. When she’s not in the kitchen, she’s traveling the world to eat, working with the nonprofit Les Dames D’Escoffier Portland, hanging out in international food markets, or doing yoga with goats.

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