Pasta alla vodka

Medium dice the red onion and slice four cloves of garlic crosswise, kept rustic.

Grate the parmesan on the finest side of a box grater to a dust.

Heat a dutch oven over medium high, add the olive oil, then the onions; saute three to four minutes on high.

Add the chili flake to bloom in the oil and fry about 30 seconds, then add the garlic.

Variation: add Calabrian chilies once the oil is red and perfumed.

Add the tomato paste and fry a few seconds to an amber color.

Deglaze with the vodka and cook off about 15 seconds, until evaporated.

Add the cream, bring to a simmer and cook four to five minutes until the garlic and onion are tender.

Taste and salt, usually about a teaspoon. Use now or cool and hold.

Boil four quarts of water in a large pot, salt with two to three tablespoons, drop the pasta.

Warm a large non-stick saute pan, add about a cup of pasta water and half the vodka sauce, bring to a simmer.

Cook fresh extruded pasta about four minutes, to al dente, roughly 95 percent done.

Drain, saving a half cup of cooking liquid, and add the pasta to the sauce pan.

Cut in the butter, let it soften, toss to emulsify, add the reserved half cup of liquid and keep tossing.

Taste, season with salt, take off the heat, add about a third of the parmesan and toss again.

Serve with parmesan and basil; chili oil, black pepper and chili flake optional.