Name: Dirty Martini Pasta
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 pound short pasta (such as penne or lumache); ¾ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking pasta; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary; 5 (3-inch) strips lemon zest, sliced thin; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste; ½ cup gin, divided; ½ cup heavy cream; ½ teaspoon pepper; 1 cup chopped pitted Castelvetrano olives, plus 2 tablespoons brine

Why This Recipe Works

Creamy gin-spiked tomato sauce meets briny olives in this boldly flavored pasta. With its ready-made depth and complexity, we use tomato paste as the base for the sauce, diluting it with pasta water and cream to the perfect glossy consistency. To optimize the impact of the gin, we add it in two stages. We incorporate most of the spirit at the beginning of cooking, which liberates the sauce’s alcohol-soluble compounds, dialing up its flavor. Then we add just a tablespoon at the end of cooking, which lends the dish a subtle kick and warmth. We enunciate the gin’s botanical notes with rosemary and lemon zest and add both olives and their brine for that “dirty” salinity.

Before You Begin

If you’re a fan of blue cheese-stuffed olives in a dirty martini, try sprinkling mild blue cheese over the top for serving.

Instructions

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 pound short pasta and 1 tablespoon table salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 2 cups cooking water, then drain pasta.

Melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in now-empty pot over medium heat. Add 4 teaspoons chopped rosemary; 5 (3-inch) strips lemon zest, sliced thin; and 3 minced garlic cloves and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add 1 can tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add 7 tablespoons gin. Return pot to heat and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until mixture is thick and pasty, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in ½ cup heavy cream, ¾ teaspoon table salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Adjust heat to maintain gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 2 to 4 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons Castelvetrano olive brine and remaining 1 tablespoon gin into sauce. Add ½ cup chopped Castelvetrano olives, pasta, and 1 cup reserved cooking water and stir until sauce looks glossy and fluid, about 1 minute, adjusting consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Serve, sprinkling with remaining ½ cup chopped Castelvetrano olives.