Spicy Pasta Alla Vodka with Bacon Pangrattato

Rich, creamy, and perfectly spicy, this spicy pasta alla vodka topped with crispy bacon pangrattato is pure comfort food elevated to restaurant quality.

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Recipe

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Spicy Pasta Alla Vodka with Bacon Pangrattato

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pasta

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Bacon pangrattato

• 4 strips bacon
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
• zest of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon red chili flakes

Spicy pasta alla vodka

• 2 shallots minced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• ½ cup vodka
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces pasta
• ¼ cup grated parmesan plus extra
• fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

• Make the bacon pangrattato. Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the strips of bacon and cook until browned on both sides. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain the fat, leaving 2 tablespoons in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low. In the same pan, add the breadcrumbs, rosemary, lemon zest, and red chili flakes. Toss to coat in the bacon fat and continue to toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown. Chop up the bacon into small pieces and add back to the breadcrumbs. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Prepare the spicy pasta alla vodka sauce. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat into a deep saute pan over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and garlic and saute for 1 minute or until lightly browned. Add the red chili flakes, oregano, and tomato paste and continue to cook until the tomato paste is caramelized and darkened, about 2 minutes.
• Add the vodka and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and reduce the heat to low.
• While the sauce is simmering, cook the noodles. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Add both the water and noodles to the sauce, tossing to coat. Add the grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
• Portion the pasta into bowls and top with the bacon pangrattato. Finish with extra parmesan if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can make the bacon pangrattato up to 2 days in advance. Store it in the refridgerator until ready to use.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make bacon pangrattato

Let's start preparing this dish with the bacon pangrattato, also known as bacon breadcrumbs. I use panko for the breadcrumbs, but I highly recommend using homemade breadcrumbs if you have them.

When I was working as a cook at a restaurant in Los Angeles, we would always turn the leftover stale bread into homemade breadcrumbs. Why waste a perfectly good product when you can turn it into something delicious?

To make the pangrattato, first, cook the bacon, rendering out the fat. You can choose to cook the bacon in the oven, but I would rather have one less dish to wash, so I cooked it in the pan.

Then, remove the bacon and set aside a tablespoon of the bacon fat for the sauce. You should have about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat left; if not, add enough olive oil to equate to 2 tablespoons.

Next, toast the breadcrumbs in that wonderful bacon fat with rosemary, lemon zest, and red chili flakes until golden brown. Add back the crumbled bacon and voila! The bacon pangrattato is done.

Step 2: Prepare sauce

Now for the sauce. The sauce is very simple to make, using only tomato paste, vodka, and heavy cream as the main components. I also added minced shallots, garlic, red chili flakes, and oregano to give the sauce more pizzazz.

Saute the aromatics in the reserved bacon fat and add the tomato paste with the seasonings. Caramelize the tomato paste for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Taking this extra step allows the flavors to concentrate even further, which leads to a richer sauce.

Add the vodka and bring it to a simmer, letting the alcohol cook out. This step is important because otherwise, you may just get a little tipsy from the sauce.

Finish the sauce with heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Don't worry if the sauce looks thick because you'll add the pasta water (the water you cooked your pasta in) into the sauce.

Toss the noodles in the sauce along with the pasta water and grated parmesan. If the sauce is still too thick, you can add another splash of the pasta cooking water.

Give the pasta alla vodka a final seasoning adjustment and top with a generous amount of the bacon breadcrumbs.

If you want to make it even spicier, you can add even more red chili flakes on top. And of course, extra parmesan and fresh basil doesn't hurt. This spicy pasta alla vodka hit the spot for me, delivering on flavor and comfort.

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: The bacon pangrattato can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat briefly in a dry pan before serving to restore crispness. You can also make the pasta sauce ahead of time and gently reheat it before adding the pasta and reserved pasta water.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 3 days.

More easy pasta recipes

Looking for more easy pasta ideas? Try these: