Spicy Lao Gan Ma Rigatoni

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon diced garlic
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons Lan Gao Ma/spicy chili crisp
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 cup warmed heavy cream
  • Sometimes if I want something a little bit healthier, I would use 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup greek yogurt. You can warm the heavy cream in the microwave for like 10 seconds.
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 cups (1/2 pound) uncooked rigatoni
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• (Optional) basil to taste

This recipe makes approximately 2 servings.

Instructions

1. First, let’s start making the sauce. In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add tomato paste, Lao Gan Ma, salt, and white pepper. Cook and stir until the paste becomes a deep red color and starts to caramelized, approximately 6-7 minutes.
3. Add rice vinegar to deglaze and pan. Stir well to combine.
4. Reduce the heat down to low. Add heavy cream and stir to combine evenly. Then, remove the sauce from the heat.
5. Bring a pot of water and a teaspoon of salt to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook to al dente according to the package instructions. Mine took about 7 minutes.
6. Take a 1/4 cup of the pasta water and add that to the Lao Gan Ma sauce. Stir to combine.
7. Drain the remaining water from the rigatoni. Add the rigatoni to the sauce. Stir to combine evenly.
8. Add parmesan cheese and stir to melt and incorporate evenly. Feel free to garnish with basil, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. You’re done!

Spicy Lao Gan Ma Rigatoni is my latest twist and is a super easy and delicious meal! Have you ever heard of this restaurant Carbone? Well, they’re a super expensive NYC restaurant known for their spicy vodka rigatoni. I figured I’d put my own little twist on the classic spicy rigatoni with Lao Gan Ma, a chili crisp sauce that is a staple in many Chinese kitchens. It turned out perfect! This dish has so much flavor from the Lao Gan Ma, but is also super creamy and decadent. The sauce is definitely something that you just want to clean up with some bread. Another win in this kind of reverse fusion recipe. Let me know in the comments below if you made this Spicy Lao Gan Ma Rigatoni and how it went!

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