Community Cookbook: Hole in the Wall’s Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni

Williamsburg’s Hole in the Wall (292 Bedford Ave.) does not exactly live up to its name. The charming Australian-inspired cafe offers polished cocktail, brunch, and dinner menus, plus happy hour every weekday with trendy options like espresso martinis and Aperol spritzes. 

For this week’s addition to the Community Cookbook, Hole in the Wall has provided their recipe for Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni with homemade toasted garlic breadcrumbs.

Learn how to master Hole in the Wall’s Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni below and find last week’s Community Cookbook recipe here.

Hole in the Wall’s Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni

Serves 4

Ingredients for Pomodoro Sauce with Vodka

1/4 cup of olive oil 

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Half of 1 white onion, diced

1/4 cup of tomato paste

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 bunch of basil

4 ounces of vodka

Chili flakes, to taste

Ingredients for Toasted Garlic Breadcrumbs

1 cup of panko crumbs

2 cloves of garlic, minced 

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Ingredients for Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni 

4 teaspoons of garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons of butter

20 pieces of shrimp per person, diced 

4 teaspoons of Calabrian chilies, chopped

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of salt

4 pints (or 28 ounces) of rigatoni pasta

20 leaves of basil, fried (for garnish)

Directions

1. First, make the sauce. Sweat onions and garlic in extra virgin olive oil until soft and clear.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook for roughly 5 minutes, caramelizing the paste but not burning. 
3. Add tomatoes, vodka, salt, pepper and chili, cook until flavorful and slightly reduced.
4. Once reduced, add the basil leaves into the sauce.
5. Using a stick blender or a blender, blend the sauce until a smooth consistency is reached.
6. Set aside.
7. Next, make the garlic crumbs. In a pan, heat oil and garlic over low heat.
8. Add crumbs once garlic smells aromatic and starts to color. 
9. Stir and shake crumbs until they are golden brown.
10. Set aside.
11. Lastly, you put it all together. Heat a pan, and then add butter and garlic.
12. Sauté until garlic is fragrant.
13. Add shrimp and continue cooking.
14. Add chilies and toss.
15. Place pasta in boiling water and strain once al dente.
16. Add pasta, pomodoro vodka sauce and cream to the pan with the cooked shrimp.
17. Toss well, stirring often until heated through.
18. Season with salt.
19. Place in bowl and top with toasted garlic crumbs and fried basil leaves.