Copycat Carbone Spicy Rigatoni
Carbone’s Spicy Rigatoni
A classic spicy vodka sauce (but no vodka here)
Ingredients
I made adjustments to this recipe from Erin O’Brien.
YIELDS 4 PORTIONS
EVOO
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup parmesan
3 tbsp Calabrian chili (I used this one)
1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pasta water, divided
4 tbsp butter (optional)
1 cup Parmesan, freshly grated plus more for garnish (optional)
I found that the flavor without the parmesan and butter was still really similar to Carbone’s. The Parmesan adds umami and saltiness but makes the sauce taste overall cheesy and not creamy + tomatoey)
dried rigatoni (I used 3 handfuls, which was enough for 3 portions)
salt
fresh ground black pepper to garnish
Directions
Heat olive oil and sauteé onions for 4 minutes on medium until fragrant and translucent. Stir frequently.
Add Calabrian chili, garlic, sugar, and salt. Stir thoroughly for
Add tomato paste and cook for 4 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream and mix thoroughly. Then add ¼ cup pasta water and mix thoroughly.
Lower heat to low. Add optional parmesan and butter and stir until thoroughly combined. If adding parmesan, add a final 1/4 cup of pasta water to loosen the sauce.
COMPLETELY OPTIONAL: blend the sauce to achieve a silky and creamy mouthfeel.
Add cooked rigatoni into the sauce to coat evenly. The sauce will loosen more with the residual water on the pasta but will be the correct texture at serving.
Grate on additional parmesan and fresh black pepper to serve.
Enjoy!
Conclusion
This might be the best Italian dish I’ve made in a while. It’s so good, the original recipe adds a great depth of flavor that you can taste as each ingredient gets added to the finished sauce. If you use fresh pasta it could taste even better depending on your preferences, but dried pasta give a nice bite to the otherwise boring texture of sauce. SO GOOD. Highly recommend trying.
