Tomato and Artichoke Pasta Recipe

How to make it

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• In large pot, boil water and cook pasta. (Note: if you cook pasta completely before beginning sauce, reserve one cup of the starchy pasta water)
• In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the red pepper flakes and allow them to cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the oil has a subtle orange hue. The red pepper is infusing with the oil to give everything a nice spicy heat. (Note: We like spicy food, so we add a whole teaspoon to ours. This is a good place to adjust how much kick you want in the dish, so feel free to experiment to make it work for you.)
• Add the onions and artichokes, lightly salt them and let cook for about 4 minutes. You are looking for the onions to become slightly translucent as they cook.
• Add the tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook for another 4 minutes. At this point, you should a rough mixture of cooked base coming together for the rest of the sauce. It should have a bit of liquid, but not much.
• Add the cracker pepper, basil and oregano, stir and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the vodka and stir in. This step is optional. I believe vodka contributes to a more flavorful sauce, but really, it is not essential. After adding it, let it cook for 1 minute.
• Turn down the heat to medium-low. Add the cream. This will make it a nice pink sauce. At this point, you are waiting for your pasta to cook. If you haven’t already put the pasta on, now is the time.
• Once the pasta is cooking or is near ready, add the Parmesan cheese to the sauce. You want it to melt into the mixture, so you may need to turn up the heat to medium and stir vigorously.
• Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the finished sauce. Add about a cup of the reserved pasta water. Turn off the heat. Toss the pasta to coat and let sit for about 1 minute. Serve. Enjoy!
• Note: The pasta water is important for three things. First, the sauce you have in the pan is thick and the water will loosen it up. Second, the water should have a nice salty flavor that will help to round out the seasoning. Finally, the starch from the pasta has seeped into the water. Therefore, the pasta will have a nice flavorful adhesive quality that will make it work well with the pasta.