Everything
Nigella Lawson for Millennials, Gigi Hadid reckons she has the perfect solution to using the leftovers of your White Russians and martinis with her signature namesake dish, the Gigi Hadid Spicy Vodka Pasta recipe. Because waste not want not in a pandemic, right?
It’s a problem, at least in my house, that a bottle of vodka that still has at least a solid shot’s worth left will be given the cold shoulder for a nice freshie. I’m not proud of it. But I also can’t help it.
Turns out there’s a solution to my dilemma of derelict Belvedere’s and it’s all thanks to the Ina Garten of models, Gigi Hadid.
To give you some background before you whip it up yourself – Hadid first revealed her secret top shelf Spicy Vodka Pasta back in 2020 when rumours about her pregnancy with Zayn Malik were going wild. In what some have said were an attempt to divert attention away from the baby talk, Hadid shared her now iconic Spicy Vodka Pasta. Because, you know, you can’t have alcohol if you’re having le baby, right?
It’s now 2021, Hadid’s baby is now about to turn one (happy birthday Khai) and thanks to lockdown I’ve got enough not-quite-empty bottles of voddy to make a Russian furious.
Here’s how I’m going to put it to good use. And you will, too.
GIGI HADID’S SPICY VODKA PASTA
Makes 2
Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
1 small clove of garlic, diced
¼ green onion
¼ cup tomato paste
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vodka
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
225 grams of shells pasta
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Basil, chopped, to serve
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, garlic and onion. Cook until soft. Add tomato paste and cook until it appears “darker [in colour] / a bit caramelised”, says Hadid.
Add in the heavy cream. Add in the vodka and cook through until evaporated.
Add in the red pepper flakes. [There is a special note from the chef here to add in more flakes if you like your pasta extra spicy].
Keep stirring until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Remove sauce from the heat.
Cook pasta separately. The chef uses shells but Orecchiette would also work well. When the pasta is done, save ¼ of the pasta water before draining.
Add in the butter. Stir over a medium heat til the butter has melted and the sauce is as Gigi ‘Julia Childs’ Hadid describes as “saaaaaucy”
Add pasta – and the pasta water – to the sauce. Add parmesan cheese and stir. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and basil to serve.
