When it comes to cooking, I have always erred on the side of making a dish more flavorful.

Even if it’s my first time making a specific recipe, I will often add an extra clove of garlic or an extra teaspoon of seasoning as a way to stave off blandness. Does that mean that sometimes, a dish gets a little salty, or spicy, or just… weird? Yes. But is it bland? No.

This food intuition also extends to a recipe’s fat content. Sometimes, when a recipe calls for half of a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon ends up in the dish. Typically, this happens when a recipe looks like it will end up too dry, but sometimes, it’s more like I look at the dish and know… a very skinny person wrote this recipe.

So, when Gigi Hadid (perhaps one of the most recognizable models in the world), put out a video displaying her technique for making spicy vodka pasta in 2020, I was immediately skeptical. Typically, when I am looking for food recommendations, I don’t go to someone who is known for her runway walk.

All over the world, home cooks started recreating this recipe as a way to hop on a trend and to eat what a model eats. But I held out for a while. I watched and waited, looking for the signs of a whole generation transforming to be runway ready.

Eventually, the pasta fell out of vogue. But two years later, my senior year of college, my roommate asked me if I had ever tried it. We found the Easy and Delish website’s version of the recipe, and within a few minutes, we found ourselves on a mission to satisfy our curiosity.

As I cooked the pasta for the first time, I made a few mistakes, leading the sauce to be thinner and spicier than I anticipated. The red pepper flake presence was going to be way more than just a kick.

After a quick taste that confirmed my suspicions, I very dramatically turned to my roommate and asked, “do you trust me?” When this was confirmed with a nod, I said, “I’m going off-book.”

That day, I played around with a few different additions to the pasta, including more cream and butter, but also anything I could think of to try to cut some of the spice level. As I was looking around for what I could add, I noticed that I had the end of a block of cream cheese in the back of the fridge.

I had a choice, then. Either eat like a supermodel with a burning mouth, or free myself from the fear of fat to create a recipe my roommate and I could survive eating. I went for the latter.

Since that first time making the pasta, I have remade it several times, sticking more closely to some of the techniques described in the original recipe. It is really delicious, if you follow all of the steps. But I have never forgotten the ingredient that saved the pasta the first time I made it.

I know this is not traditional, and I’m sure many Italians would be irritated at me for my addition. But when the cold months started rolling in, and I wanted something spicy and filling to make for dinner, I picked up all the ingredients for spicy vodka pasta— and a block of cream cheese.

If you plan on walking the runway anytime soon, maybe avoid this version of this recipe. But if you want something spicy, creamy and delicious to enjoy for dinner, this recipe is for you.

SPICY VODKA PASTA

Ingredients
8 ounces Orecchiette or shell pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 red onion small diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup tomato paste (not tomato sauce)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vodka
6 small fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon butter
1 ounce plain cream cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
■ Cook the pasta, following the directions on the package. When the pasta is done, save 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.
■ Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil and cook the onion until soft. Then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until darker in color.
■ Add in the heavy cream and then the vodka. Cook until the vodka has evaporated (about 2 minutes). Add basil leaves to the sauce.
■ Add in salt and pepper to taste, and also the red pepper flakes. Keep stirring until combined and the sauce is mostly creamy and thickened.
■ Right before adding the pasta, add in the butter and cream cheese. Stir over low heat until both have melted (keep the cream cheese moving so it doesn’t stick).
■ Add the pasta water to the sauce. Let the sauce simmer and reduce until it reaches desired consistency. Then, add cooked pasta to the sauce.
■ Stir in the Parmesan cheese and adjust the salt and pepper if needed. Make sure the pasta is fully coated with the sauce.
■ Serve this spicy vodka pasta topped with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and basil to garnish.

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