Written by: Jules Dowling
While staying at home kept us safe from COVID-19 during the pandemic, staying home also meant being separated from the outside world and our everyday lives. So, it was no surprise when all of us turned to embracing indoor life and the hobbies we would dedicate more time to or even try for the first time. I chose a common pandemic hobby: cooking and baking. I had always cooked for my family or myself in the past–– I would serve an appetizer here or a dessert there. Usually, I would leave a bit of a mess in the kitchen after trying to perfect simple dishes. So, since I had more time at home on my hands, I made it my mission to improve my cooking etiquette and to broaden my cooking range. So, I initially tried a new dish every single day–– pasta, a new way to roast chicken, a different blend of salad; but I eventually fell into perfecting a singular dish, mostly because of how addictively tasty it is.
I, like many others during and after the pandemic, fell victim to Gigi Hadid’s spicy vodka pasta (on one of my perhaps-too-long browsing sessions on Instagram). There’s just something about this dish–– maybe that it’s a quick and easy one to learn, maybe that it’s just so delicious, or maybe that this pasta is dependable. It took me about half a year during the pandemic to get used to cooking this recipe without having to measure out ingredients, to learn how to create this amalgamation of flavor without any thought. Now, I turn on the stove, let my mind wander for about 20 minutes, and then the spicy vodka pasta is ready to be served.
I find this dish to be one I know like the back of my hand, causing it to go platinum at my roommate and I’s apartment, and has grown to be known as something far more than just “dinner” at our place. Because of how often I go back to it, it has become the backbone of dinner parties, the go-to for a hungry bunch after a night out, and the dish that brings at least a little bit of comfort and satisfaction after a particularly grueling week of school. Gigi Hadid’s spicy vodka pasta is to me (and my roommate) what Ratatouille is to Ego in the film, Ratatouille (2007). The pandemic may have brought despair, uncertainty, and isolation–– but it also brought gold in pasta form.
If you, too, would like to fall victim to the spicy vodka pasta’s delicious trap, click here: