PASTA ALLA VODKA, AKA DISCO PASTA.

Tomato, cream, chilli and a shot of vodka, oh yeah.

I’ve seen pasta alla vodka, penne al vodka or spicy vodka rigatoni on so many menus lately that I reckon it’s stalking me. It’s the 1980s ‘disco pasta’ that has come back from the dead.

Where does it come from? No, not ancient Rome, which was your first thought. The first mention appears to be 1974, when Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi published a recipe for pasta all’infuriata - or furious pasta - that combined vodka, chilli and tomato.  (Fun fact: Tognazzi was one of the key actors in that very black tragi-comedic film of the 1970s, La Grande Bouffe). 

Pleasingly, there is a disco connection, which we love. Some sources suggest it was invented at Dante in Bologna, in the 1970s or 80s; which has variously been described as a restaurant and a nightclub. Bologna being a university town, the students would dance and drink all night then ask for pasta, and some bright spark added a shot of vodka and cream to the usual tomato-based sauce, to make it fancy. It made its way from there to Rome, where it was seized upon by Americans, taken back home, and incorporated into their beloved ‘red-sauce’ Italian-American cooking.

Generations of Americans have now grown up with it, and spicy vodka rigatoni is the biggest seller on the menu of New York’s Carbone, that very celebratory Italian-American restaurant that is a whole heap of fun.

As a pasta sauce, it sits somewhere between all’arrabbiata and salsa pomodoro, but made creamy. It’s easy to make, and even easier to eat. You don’t even have to add the vodka if you don’t want to; in which case you can call it pasta rosa, which means pink.

The pink, by the way, can be quite a vulgar shade, depending on your tomatoes. If you don’t find it attractive, just cover it with accessories, as if it’s an outfit you have to wear even though the colour turns out not to suit you. The more you hate the pink, the more parsley, basil, grated cheese, chilli flakes and black pepper you can throw on top.

HOW TO MAKE IT

I’ve seen so many different recipes for pasta alla vodka, it’s crazy. Most of the Italian-American ones start by frying onions and pancetta strips, then deglaze the pan with a slug of vodka and let it bubble away for the alcohol to evaporate somewhat. Then tomatoes go in – fresh or canned - and get cooked through, and it’s finished with heavy cream and parmigiano.

Some of the older recipes use only tomato paste as the base, which is hard-core nonna. Others use SO MUCH BUTTER, and SO MUCH CREAM.

I don’t.  I skip the onions and pancetta, preferring the simplicity of an excellent tomato sugo as the base. I add vodka to that and cook it out at a high simmer (see pic below), then lower the heat and add smooth ricotta instead of cream (it’s cheesier), and serve with a pile of parmigiano, chilli flakes, cracked black pepper and basil, with an all-important nob of butter in the middle for richness.

End result: A bowl of pasta that is beautifully coated with a silky, murky-red sauce that has a touch of acidity, a sort of lightness and pepperiness from the vodka (I might be imagining this), a creamy richness, and a decent foundation of flavour.

PASTA ALLA VODKA

Make the tomato and vodka sugo beforehand, and you’re laughing.  Serves 2.

• 200g rigatoni or penne

• 2 to 3 tbsp smooth ricotta or thickened cream

• 1 tbsp butter

• Cracked black pepper and dried chilli flakes

• 2 tbsp finely grated parmigiano

• Fresh basil or parsley leaves

For the tomato and vodka sugo

• 400 g canned tomatoes, chopped

• 2 tbsp vodka

• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tsp sugar, half tsp sea salt

• half tsp dried oregano

• pinch of dried chilli flakes

• slug of extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp finely chopped basil or parsley

To make the sugo, tip the chopped canned tomatoes into a saucepan. Half-fill the can with water (or stock, if you prefer), swirl to rinse, and add that tomatoey liquid to the pan as well.

Add the vodka, garlic, tomato paste, sugar, sea salt, oregano, chilli and a good slug of olive oil and simmer (a sort of high simmer) for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nicely thickened.

Put a big pot of water on to the boil, and salt it heavily.

When boiling, add the pasta and cook until nicely al dente, which could be anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes, so keep testing.

Reheat the tomato sugo and loosen it with a ladleful of the pasta cooking water, stirring.

Lower the heat and add the ricotta or cream, stirring through until garishly pink.

Drain the pasta and add as much as you want to the sauce, tossing and shaking the pan until the pasta is well-coated and glossy.

Turn out onto warmed plates, and add a nob of butter to each pasta.

Shower with grated parmigiano, black pepper, chilli flakes and basil leaves.

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Don’t go crazy with the ricotta or cream; it should just be enough to mellow out the tomato sugo and make it silken.

Adding grated cheese to the sauce in the pan will glug it up – save it for serving. That said, if your sauce is too runny… add it.

If you really want to taste the vodka, do what bar people call a ‘topper’. (They’ll make a gin and tonic, then add a little topper of gin to float on the top so that’s the first thing you taste). Just add a glug of vodka to the finished sauce when you add the cream and give it all a stir. Don’t overdo it - you still need to be capable of doing the dishes.

Prefer gin to vodka? That will work fine, too.

This is what I mean by a high simmer, once you have added the vodka.

Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Terry for insisting on the basil.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to Elders past and present, and to the continuing strength and resilience of First Nations people, communities and cultures.