Rigatoni and Sausage with Spicy Vodka Sauce

This recipe is an amalgamation of two of my favorite dishes, the Wood-Oven Baked Rigatoni from Restaurant Bricco and Claire Saffitz’ Basically Easy Vodka Sauce.  Both of these pastas are tried and true favorites. I never get sick of them and find myself craving them regularly.

 I love the way this sauce comes together beautifully with a few simple ingredients that I usually have in my pantry. Whenever I’m looking for something that’s hearty, comforting, and easy to make, I turn to this dish.

Serves 4.

·      Kosher salt

·      1-pound sweet Italian pork sausage—casing removed

·      1-pound rigatoni

·      1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

·      1 medium onion—finely chopped

·      4 garlic cloves—smashed      

·      ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

·      1 4.5 ounce tube of double-concentrated tomato paste

·      ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·      ¼ cup vodka

·      1 cup heavy cream

·      ¼ cup sundried tomatoes—roughly chopped

·      1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1.     Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2.     Set a skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add the sausages and let sit for 2-3 minutes, until evenly browned. Turn the sausages and brown on the opposite side for an additional 1-2 minutes. When both sides of the sausage have browned, begin to break up the sausage with a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for an additional 6-8 minutes, until it is browned and broken up.

3.     Once the sausage is cooked through, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a paper-towel lined plate.  Reserve the rendered fat in the pan.

4.     Add the olive oil, diced onion, and smashed garlic cloves to the pan used to cook the sausage. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until onion is softened and just starting to brown around the edges, 5–7 minutes.

5.     Add ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¾ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Add the entire 4.5-ounce tube of tomato paste and stir until the paste evenly coats the onion. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the paste is deep red and starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, 5–7 minutes.

6.     While the onion mixture cooks, add the rigatoni to the pot of boiling salted water and cook according to package instructions until al dente. About 1 minute before the timer goes off, use heatproof measuring cup to scoop up about 2 cups of pasta cooking water. In a separate heatproof glass measuring cup, scoop a ½ cup of boiling water from the pot, then add the heavy cream to the measuring cup (this brings up the temperature of the cream so it won’t break when you add it to the sauce). Drain the pasta and set aside.

7.     Add vodka to deglaze the pan containing the tomato mixture and stir to incorporate, scraping bottom of pan. Reduce heat to low.

8.     Slowly add warmed cream to the tomato mixture, stirring constantly, until a smooth sauce forms. Add the roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes and remove from heat.

9.     Add the tomato sauce to the pot of cooked rigatoni. Add the butter and 1 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pot and stir to incorporate. Gradually add half of Parmesan, stirring constantly to melt cheese until you achieve a smooth, glossy sauce, adding more of the pasta water as necessary if the sauce appears too dry. Add the cooked sausage to the pot and stir to combine.

10.  Top the pasta with the remaining parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serve hot.