Kat Vel's Creamy Pasta Alla Gin
Simple and delicious, this heavenly pasta is perfect for dinner parties and busy weeks.
Welcome to Put on a Spread, a recipe series that takes you inside the kitchens – and dining rooms – of some of our favorite home cooks. For this instalment, Melbourne-based cook and Golden Groves olive oil creator, Kat Vel, shares her recipe for a creamy pasta alla gin.
If you’ve ever tried pasta alla vodka, you'll know how delicious and moreish it is. This pasta dish is typically made with vodka, penne pasta, heavy cream, crushed tomatoes, and onions, for a creamy and heartwarming meal. But Kat Vel is here to dish out an alternative (and arguably more interesting) take on this pasta dish that uses gin instead of vodka.
In a vodka sauce, the vodka helps maintain a cohesive texture, allowing the creaminess to meld with the tomato base. Gin will do just this but also add subtle complexity to the dish as it has herbal and botanical notes.
This foolproof Italian delight is quick to make and perfect for dinner parties, busy schedules, or those nights you simply feel like tucking into something comforting and indulgent.
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Ingredients
- 400g pasta (rigatoni or penne)
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1½ tsp chilli flakes
- ½ cup gin
- 2/3 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup parmesan, grated
- Basil leaves for garnish
- Salt and pepper
Method
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Don't add your pasta just yet!
In a large frying pan, add your olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add your finely chopped garlic, onion, and chilli flakes, and sauté them for about 5-6 minutes over medium heat, until they're soft and translucent.
Put your pasta in to boil at this point.
Then, add your tomato paste to the frying pan. Stir it around the pan for 2-3 minutes to cook out the tomato concentrate flavour.
Next, add your gin. Move the paste about the pan for a minute until the alcohol has mostly evaporated.
Then, reduce your heat to low and pour your cream into the pan, adding about ¼ cup of the starchy pasta water to the pan to help temper the cream and prevent it from splitting.
Add 1 tsp sea salt and stir the cream into the tomato paste until the sauce becomes a uniform orange colour.
When your pasta is 1 minute away from al dente (save 1/2 cup starchy pasta water), strain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce.
Finish cooking the pasta in the pan over low heat with the sauce, adding your parmesan cheese and about 1/4 cup of pasta water at a time to help thicken the sauce.
Top with basil and parmesan and enjoy!
For more from Kat, follow her at @katvel__
Photography by Maddie Roux. Styling by Beck Simon.
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