I could eat pasta every single night of the week… and now that there are fabulous high protein alternative pastas like Barilla® Chickpea Rotini, I CAN! As y’all know, I loooove a good vodka sauce… and this one is packed with fresh summer tomatoes and sausage to take it up to ten notches. It is creamy and hearty, but remains bright and summery thanks to the pops of fresh tomato. Barilla® Chickpea Rotini acts as the perfect base for the creamy, rich sauce.
Can’t wait for y’all to try this one!
Sausage and Cherry Tomato Pasta Alla Vodka with Barilla® Chickpea Rotini
Ingredients
- 1 pound of Barilla® Chickpea Rotini pasta
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage
- 1 large shallot finely minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 ounce can tomato paste or, a heaping ½ cup
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup vodka or chicken stock
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes halved
- Kosher salt
- 1 pint 2 cups heavy cream (or half n half for a lighter version)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for serving
- Basil for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 1 pound of Barilla® Chickpea Rotini until al dente. **RESERVE 2 CUPS OF THE COOKING LIQUID BEFORE YOU DRAIN THE PASTA!!** Do not rinse the pasta!
- Warm a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage, breaking it into small crumbled, until almost cooked through. Add 1 minced shallot and 2 minced garlic cloves and continue cooking until the shallot and garlic are softened and the sausage is cooked through.
- Stir in 6 ounces tomato paste and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes and continue cooking until the paste turns a nice deep red color.
- Stir in ¼ cup vodka and 10 ounces halved cherry tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes, until combined. Stir in 2 cups heavy cream and simmer until thickened to the consistency of a thin yogurt. Stir in ½ cup parmesan until melted and smooth. Stir in the pasta and a small amount of pasta cooking liquid at a time if needed for the sauce to be very thick and cling to each noodle perfectly. Taste and season with salt as needed.
- Serve and garnish with more Parmesan.
- 1 pound of Barilla® Chickpea Rotini pasta
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage
- 1 large shallot finely minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 ounce can tomato paste or, a heaping ½ cup
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup vodka or chicken stock
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes halved
- Kosher salt
- 1 pint 2 cups heavy cream (or half n half for a lighter version)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for serving
- Basil for serving