Recipe: Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca’s Saucy and Spicy Rigatoni alla Vodka

Melbourne restaurant Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca is a Melbourne lockdown pop-up that went full-time. It started out doing ultra-saucy Italian-style sandwiches, but at its permanent digs in Fitzroy it’s branched out into serving a handful of pastas, heavier dishes like steak, and plates of salumi.

While the menu often changes, there’s a good chance you’ll find Rocco’s punchy take on rigatoni alla vodka on the menu. It amps up the flavour with multiple thwacks of chilli – chilli flakes, Calabrian chilli, salsa picante and guindilla – all rounded out with a good scoop of stracciatella. Here, head chef Samantha Medeiros shares the recipe so you can pull it together at home.

If you want to make rigatoni from scratch for this recipe, you will need a pasta extruder. If you don’t have a pasta extruder, you can use high-quality store-bought rigatoni.

Want more home cooking inspiration? Sign up to our Cooking newsletter for weekly dishes from top Aussie and international chefs – from quick dinners to weekend projects.

Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca’s rigatoni alla vodka

Serves 6
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

1 container stracciatella
1 container guindillas

Rigatoni
500g semolina
150ml warm water

Vodka sauce
160g butter, plus extra for emulsifying
330g shallots, pulsed in food processor
13g paprika
7g chilli flakes
250g tomato paste
43g Calabrian chili
250ml vodka
4 400g tins high quality chopped tomatoes
400ml cream
Fine salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste

Salsa picante
200g olive oil
100g guindillas (drained, stems removed)
42g baby capers
20g guindilla pickling liquid
20g parsley

Method

Start by making the rigatoni. With the rigatoni attachment on your pasta extruder, set the machine to knead mode. Add the semolina to the machine, then slowly pour in the warm water. Allow the machine to knead the dough for 5 minutes.

Once the dough is kneaded, attach the pasta cutter to the machine and switch the setting to extrude. Make sure to knead the pasta dough thoroughly before extruding to ensure it has the right consistency. If it feels too dry, add a small amount of water. If it feels too wet, add a bit more semolina.

Begin extruding the pasta, adjusting the speed setting for the desired length of pasta. Check the machine every 2 minutes or so to ensure the pasta is not sticking. Dust the pasta with additional semolina to prevent sticking. Once extruded, allow the pasta to cool slightly. Portion the rigatoni into 110g portions and set aside.

For the sauce, in a medium pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the pulsed shallots to the pot, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 8–10 minutes until the shallots become translucent and sticky. Stir in the paprika and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute to toast the spices. Add the tomato paste and Calabrian chilli, cooking for an additional 8–10 minutes until the tomato paste begins to split.

Deglaze the pan with the vodka, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let it simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld. Add the cream, bring the sauce back to a simmer, then remove from heat.

While the sauce is still hot, blend in batches using a Thermomix or an immersion blender until completely smooth. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

To make the salsa picante, in a Thermomix or blender combine the olive oil, guindillas, capers and pickling liquid. Blend until a smooth paste forms. Add the parsley and continue blending until fully incorporated. Transfer the salsa picante to a squeeze bottle for easy serving.

To cook the rigatoni, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Drop the rigatoni into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, or until just al dente.

While the pasta cooks, heat 1 full ladle of vodka sauce in a pan over medium heat with 2 knobs of butter and a pinch of salt. Once the pasta is cooked, add it directly to the pan with the sauce and toss to emulsify the butter and sauce, adjusting the seasoning to taste.

To serve, plate the pasta in large shallow bowls. Drizzle the salsa picante generously around the pasta. Top each serving with a heaping tablespoon of stracciatella cheese, seasoned with a pinch of black pepper. Finish with one piece of guindilla chilli on top for extra flavour and heat.

roccosbologna.com