Fusilli alla Vodka with Sausage

Wouldn’t it be nice if everything just magically fixed itself? Broken dryer – working again! Plumbing leak – all gone! Furnace glitch – good as new! While none of this is possible, it is pretty easy to fix a delicious dinner, just like the one you’d get if you were eating out. Turn your kitchen into the hottest spot in town with a fast, easy pasta dish you can make right in your own kitchen.

This Fusilli alla Vodka with Sausage is a cinch to make. It has big tomato flavor and just the right amount of spice. You can use as much or as little cream as you like, and whatever you do, the sauce will still be amazing. Fast enough to make on a weeknight, you can make the entire dish in the time it takes to boil the pasta. Are you ready to make something good?

I like using Isernio’s bulk Italian sausage for recipes like this because it has no casing and I buy the chicken Italian sausage because it has less fat. How much less? So much that in this case I needed to add a little olive oil into the pan after I removed the sausage because there was nothing left to sauté the shallots in. Cook the whole pound of sausage while you’re at it. Freeze what you don’t use for tonight’s dinner in a resealable bag, so it’s ready to top pizza or toss into soup or pasta sauce. Once you start doing this, you’ll be amazed at how many times you reach for that bag to make a quick meal and save time.

The shallots at the store were so large, using 2 would have been a tremendous amount for this recipe. I diced one of them and used about 1/2 cup. To make this gluten-free and add some protein and fiber, I used Banza chickpea pasta, but you can use any variety or shape that you prefer. Just be sure to choose something that can hold onto the stellar sauce you’re about to make.

Everything will come together very quickly, so be sure to dice your shallot, slice your garlic, open your can of tomato paste, and set out your olive oil, Italian sausage, vodka, pasta, heavy cream, red pepper flakes and butter. Grate your cheese and rinse and chop your fresh basil to have on standby. You will also need a slotted spoon or spider so that you can remove the pasta quickly but save the cooking water.

This is a great recipe to cook in a relaxed way. Nothing serious cooking-wise here, so I urge you to pour, pinch, and dab with wild abandon. Measure if you must, but you don’t really need to. Hit the sauce with a generous pour of vodka, straight from the bottle. Close your eyes and splash in however much cream you like. (I guesstimate I used less than 1/4 cup and it was plenty.) Whatever you do, it’s going to be delicious!

Fusilli alla Vodka with Sausage

kosher salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
2 shallots, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 ounces tomato paste
3 Tablespoons vodka
1 pound fusilli pasta
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons butter
3 ounces freshly grated pecorino romano
freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add a generous pinch of salt to the water, but don’t add the pasta yet.

While the water is coming to a boil, heat olive oil in a large pan that will be large enough to hold all of the pasta (like an extra-large skillet or wok). Add sausage by tearing off small teaspoon-sized pieces then putting them into the skillet. Lightly brown the sausage, then remove it to a plate lined with a paper towel. Remove excess fat from pan if needed, leaving about 1 to 2 tablespoons in the pan.

Add shallots and a small pinch of salt; cook until soft, stirring constantly. Add sliced garlic and cook 1 to 2 more minutes until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add vodka and cook until it almost completely evaporates.

Now add pasta to the boiling water, stirring often. While pasta cooks, add cream to the sauce and turn heat to medium-low. Mix well and bring to a low simmer. Add crushed red pepper and check for heat. When pasta is almost done (slightly under al dente), use a slotted spoon or spider to scoop the pasta out of the water and into the sauce. (Pasta water helps emulsify the sauce, so don’t worry if you get some of the water gets into your sauce as you transfer.)

Mix pasta into the sauce, then add pasta water to loosen sauce, about 1/4 cup at a time, and gently stir. Let return to a low simmer and cook until pasta is done to your liking – a few more minutes. Add more water if sauce dries out and gets too tight before pasta is done.

Remove pan from heat. Add butter and sausage, then stir in. Add about half of the cheese and mix in. Taste and adjust with more cheese, salt, red pepper, or a few grinds of black pepper as needed. Add more pasta water if it seems to thick or tight. Finish with basil and top with remaining cheese.

-mark anderson and ryan fey