Gigi Hadid Pasta With a Pink Sauce That Clings Instead of Pooling

Quarter past seven, the pasta water is at a rolling boil, and the pink sauce you swiped right on this morning is about to become dinner. This gigi hadid pasta recipe is a little vodka, a lot of cream and a sauce that blushes right on schedule, in 29 minutes.

Light the candle, hide the tomato paste can, and take the credit.

The dish takes its name from Gigi Hadid, and this page is our own take on it, not her recipe and not affiliated with or endorsed by her. What you are making is a pink vodka cream pasta: onion and garlic softened in butter and olive oil, tomato paste cooked until it darkens, vodka simmered down, cream stirred in, and penne tossed through with parmesan until the whole thing is glossy.

It is a pot and a skillet, and the pasta boils while the sauce comes together, so nothing sits waiting for the other to finish.

How to make it

1. Finely dice 0.5 yellow onion and mince 3 garlic cloves (about 5 minutes). Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
2. Cook 12 oz penne pasta until al dente, about 10 to 11 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook 4 to 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the minced garlic and 1 tsp red pepper flake for 30 seconds.
4. Add ¼ cup tomato paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until it darkens slightly. Pour in ¼ cup vodka and let it simmer 1 to 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol.
5. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream and simmer 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce turns a soft pink and thickens a bit. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Toss the drained penne into the sauce with ½ cup grated parmesan, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time until glossy and clinging. Serve immediately.

Notes

Cooked leftovers of this gigi hadid pasta recipe keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. A cream sauce tightens in the fridge, so reheat it in a skillet over low heat with a splash of water or milk, stirring until it loosens, rather than microwaving it on full power.

Reserve a full cup of pasta water before you drain. You will not use all of it, but it is cheaper to have it and pour the rest down the sink than to find out you needed it with a colander already in the way.

The tomato paste is cooked for two to three minutes until it darkens slightly. That is the step that takes it from raw and tinny to something sweet, so give it the time and keep stirring so it does not catch on the bottom of the pan.

The red pepper flake goes in with the garlic for thirty seconds. One teaspoon gives you a gentle background warmth. If you want the sauce to push back, taste it at the end and add a pinch more, because heat is easier to add than to remove.

Vodka is simmered for one to two minutes in the pan. A short simmer may not remove all of the alcohol, so if anyone at the table avoids it, tell them what is in the sauce before they sit down.

Your agent adds the vodka to the cart, and you are only using a quarter cup of it, so the rest of the bottle stays for another night.

Swaps that actually work

The tomato paste and cream are the point of this gigi hadid pasta recipe. Together they make the pink, and nothing else in the pan substitutes for either. Everything around them can move.

Rigatoni, shells or any short pasta with ridges or hollows works in place of penne, because the sauce gets in and stays. Long pasta works too, and it is a little harder to coat.

Half-and-half can stand in for heavy cream if that is what you have. It is thinner and more likely to break under heat, so keep the flame at medium and do not let it boil hard.

For a version without alcohol, leave the vodka out and add a splash of pasta water with a squeeze of lemon at the end. It is a slightly different sauce, a little less sharp, and it is still pink.

Parmesan can be replaced with pecorino. It is saltier, so taste before you add the salt called for.

Swapping the cream for milk and calling it pink pasta is the kind of idea that sounds clever at 7 p.m. and feels like a breakup by 7:15. The swap that costs you the dish is thinning the cream, because without it you have a red pasta in a hurry, and red pasta in a hurry is not what you swiped on.

If it goes wrong

The sauce is thin or watery. The cream was not simmered long enough to thicken, or the pasta water went in too fast. Let it simmer another minute or two over medium heat, then add the pasta water a splash at a time and keep tossing until it glosses and clings.

It is greasy or has split. The heat was too high and the cream broke. Take the pan off the flame and stir briskly for a minute, and if it stays separated, whisk in a spoonful of warm water until it comes back together. Next time keep it at medium.

It tastes raw or sharp. The tomato paste did not cook long enough. Keep the sauce simmering gently for a couple more minutes, and the edges soften. A pinch of salt rounds it out.

It is flat. It wants salt. Taste the sauce before the pasta goes in and season until it tastes just slightly too good, because the penne will pull it back.

It is orange, not pink. The pink arrives when the cream meets the tomato paste, so if it looks more like a sunset, add another splash of cream and stir. If the lighting is dim, tell your date it is blush and keep your face still.

What to serve with it

The default is a bowl of pasta and a little more parmesan at the table.

The better version of the default is a sharp green salad on the side, with lemon and a good pinch of salt. The sauce is rich and the lemon cuts it, and it takes about as long as it does to set the table.

What is in your fridge that lifts it is anything crunchy or acidic. Garlic bread works, and so does a handful of arugula tossed with olive oil and tipped over the top at the last second so it wilts slightly.

It makes a decent lunch the next day, as long as you reheat it gently and add a splash of water.

Why this one earns its place

This gigi hadid pasta recipe asks for one skillet, one pot and about as much attention as a text you were going to answer anyway. What you get back is a bowl that tastes like you booked a table.

It also happens to be the kind of dinner that suits an evening where you want to look as though you tried. Swipe it into the week, let the agent shop the penne, cream and parmesan, and keep the effort to yourself.

If you are cooking this for two, meal planning for couples is the grown-up version of dinner for the two of you. For a pasta that is all attitude and almost no ingredients, there is cacio e pepe, and creamy Cajun shrimp pasta is the next stop if the cream sauce got you hooked.

More like this: all Italian recipes in Crave Corner.