This highly acclaimed spicy fusilli pasta recipe, courtesy of LA Magazine, features a rich vodka tomato sauce and fresh pasta. It promises a truly indulgent and flavorful experience that will bring a tear to your eye.
To make the vodka tomato sauce: Heat ½ cup olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and 2 finely chopped shallots and sweat them. Add the 5 tubes of tomato paste, stir to combine, and cook for a few minutes until it turns a rusty color. Add ¼ cup vodka and carefully ignite it with a match to flambé it. Do not blow the flame out; it will die off once the alcohol has evaporated. Add 2 ½ cups heavy cream and cook, whisking to combine, for 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes and season with salt. Keep about 2 ½ cups of this sauce in the skillet and reserve the rest for another time (there's enough sauce here to freeze half and use half).
To make the fusilli: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook 1 pound of fusilli or another short pasta shape until al dente and drain, reserving some of the cooking water.
Meanwhile, over medium heat, add half of the 1 cup butter and 1 cup heavy cream to the 2 ½ cups of vodka tomato sauce in the skillet. Taste and add more cream and butter until it tastes as rich as you want it. Stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss over medium heat. Slowly stream in a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water to emulsify the sauce, if needed. Stir in the 16 torn basil leaves. Check the seasonings. Serve in warmed shallow bowls and pass the grated Parmesan at the table.
