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    Fitsian Food Life » Pasta Without Pounds

    Carbone Spicy Rigatoni Copycat Recipe

    Published: Mar 2, 2023 by Clara · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Carbone spicy rigatoni is a delicious spicy tomato-sauce based pasta based off of the famous dish from the restaurant Carbone in NYC. This is a very easy recipe to make that will come together in less than 30 minutes that is also healthy and low-calorie.

    Pair it with a side of hamachi crudo or some comforting butternut squash soup for a delicious healthy pasta dinner.

    Spicy rigatoni with red pepper flakes and olive oil plate on the side.
    Jump to:
    • 💭 What is Carbone Spicy Rigatoni
    • ✅ Why This Recipe Works
    • 🍎 Calories and Nutrition Facts – How To Make It Healthy
    • 📋 Ingredients Notes
    • 📖 Substitutions and Variations
    • 🔪 Step By Step Instructions
    • 💡Expert Tips
    • 💭 FAQs
    • 🍽 Related Recipes
    • 🍳 Recipe

    💭 What is Carbone Spicy Rigatoni

    Carbone spicy rigatoni is a beloved dish that the renowned New York City restaurant, Carbone, and is famed for it's delicious tangy tomato sauce paired with chewy al dente pasta.

    Thankfully, you don’t have to travel to NYC or snag one of those rare reservations to enjoy it. Similar to my Healthy Shrimp Scampi recipe, I use a number of key recipe tweaks while making this recipe at home, making this recipe healthy and delicious.

    ✅ Why This Recipe Works

    Super easy to make – All it takes is a couple of common pantry ingredients.

    Flavorful and delicious – By utilizing the key cooking techniques used to make this Carbone spicy rigatoni recipe, you can make a restaurant quality dish from the comfort of home.

    Healthy and nutritious – This recipe is based with tomato sauce, which is known to be healthy and nutritious. And it was developed by yours truly to be protein-packed and low calorie.

    Spicy rigatoni with red pepper flakes, olive oil plate, and condiments in the back.

    🍎 Calories and Nutrition Facts – How To Make It Healthy

    While spicy rigatoni is delicious, it’s not always the healthiest dish. A serving of the Carbone spicy rigatoni can be up to 952 calories with a whopping 59 grams of fat and 89 grams of carbs and only 16 grams of protein.

    Classic recipes for the dish will utilize a high amount of olive oil, butter, and heavy cream to make the dish. Some recipes call for vodka as well. 

    Let’s take a look at the nutrition content for these ingredients: 

    • Heavy Cream – 50 calories per tablespoon with 0g protein, 6g fat, 0g carbs
    • Butter – 100 calories per tablespoon with 0g protein, 11g fat, 0g carbs
    • Olive Oil – 120 calories per tablespoon with 0g protein, 14g fat, 0g carbs
    • Vodka – 98 calories per serving with 0g protein, 0g fat, 0g carbs

    As you can see, each of these ingredients are extremely calorie dense largely from its high fat content – and we haven’t even gotten to the pasta or tomato sauce yet.

    To make this recipe low calorie and healthier, I’d recommend the following tips:

    • Substitute Heavy Cream – You can use half and half, milk, or plain greek yogurt. Check out this article for more heavy cream substitute ideas.
    • Limit usage of butter and olive oil – I used ¼ tablespoon of butter to give the aromatics a nice flavor and used olive oil cooking spray, which is theoretically 0 calories. 
    • Omit the vodka – Save the shots for a night out instead – you can just utilize pasta water which has no additional calories. Check out Ethan's video "Does Vodka actually make Pasta taste better" for more info, but tldr; the pasta tastes pretty good without the vodka.
    • Portion the pasta to be exactly 1 serving – While there’s nothing wrong with carbs, they can easily add up in calories. 

    For a detailed breakdown of each ingredients, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of the Carbone spicy rigatoni, you may refer to the table below:

    Spicy Rigatoni Nutrition Facts
    Spicy Rigatoni Nutrition Facts

    To learn more about tomato sauce and if its healthy, check out my article about healthy tomato sauce.

    📋 Ingredients Notes

    Ingredients for the recipe laid out on the table.

    Pasta – I used Rummo Rigatoni, which is personally my favorite brand. It’s very affordable and one of the highest quality past brands I’ve encountered. 

    Chili – Most recipes call for Calabrian chilis, but you can also opt to use red pepper flaks or dried Thai chilis instead since they are not usually sold in a jar of oil. You can also opt to use red pepper flakes. 

    Tomato Paste – An essential part of the rigatoni sauce. 

    Pasta Water – This refers to the water used to cook the pasta. Do NOT forget to save some after the pasta is done cooking to help create the perfect sauce texture.

    Half and Half – A creamy and lower fat alternative to heavy cream. You can also use greek yogurt or milk. 

    Basil – A great garnish to bring some freshness to the dish. You can also opt to use parsley or omit.

    See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

    📖 Substitutions and Variations

    With Chicken – Add in some chicken for a delicious, protein-packed meal. Check out my low calorie Chicken Pasta Arrabiatta to see a similar recipe.

    With Shrimp – Add in some shrimps to make a delicious creamy shrimp and tomato sauce pasta. Check out this Creamy Spicy Shrimp Pasta recipe to see how to make it.

    Buy the sauce from Carbone themselves – If you don't want to make the sauce yourself, you can try using Carbone's pre-made pasta sauce. I personally like the fresh sauce better, but this is a great shortcut.

    🔪 Step By Step Instructions

    Prepare the aromatics – Start by mincing the garlic, onions, and chili if using. Mince until they are small pieces so that the aromatics get cooked evenly.

    Cook the pasta – Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in about 1 tablespoon of salt. Then cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Don’t forget to take a quarter cup of pasta or so after the pasta has been cooking for a while. 

    Sauté the aromatics and tomato paste –  In a skillet, use ¼ tablespoon of butter and cooking spray if needed and sauté the aromatics. Also add in the tomato paste and sauté until it caramelizes, about 5-6 minutes. Be sure to continue to stir the aromatics so that they don’t burn. [Photo 1 and 2]

    Sautéing the aromatics in a white skillet.
    Adding the tomato paste into the white skillet to sauté.

    Finish the sauce – Bring the heat to low to ensure the half and half doesn’t evaporate. Once the pan has cooled down, add in the half and half and mix the sauce thoroughly, adding pasta water as needed until the sauce is at the right consistency. [Photo 3]

    Mix in the pasta – Add the pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly, adding pasta water in as needed. Mix in part of the cheese as well, saving some for the garnish. [Photo 4]

    Making the tomato sauce in the skillet.
    Mixing in the pasta into the white skillet.

    Garnish and serve – Remove from heat, garnish with cheese, red pepper flakes, and basil and enjoy your delicious healthy Carbone spicy rigatoni.

    💡Expert Tips

    Don’t forget the pasta water – The tomato paste and half and half alone might be too thick  to make a proper sauce. Add in pasta water as needed to achieve the desired sauce consistency.

    Lower heat before adding the dairy – High head will make the dairy curdle and evaporate.

    💭 FAQs

    Is rigatoni healthy?

    Yes, rigatoni is healthy coming in at about 200 calories per serving. Pair it with a low calorie sauce, such as tomato sauce, and add some protein to it to make for a macro-friendly and delicious meal.

    How can I store this dish?

    I would highly recommend enjoying the dish fresh. But if you must, you can store it in an air-tight container in the drive for 2-3 days.

    🍽 Related Recipes

    • Easy Deconstructed Lasagna Recipe
    • Is Tomato Sauce Healthy? (Nutrition and Health Tips)
    • Is Shakshuka Healthy? (Low Calorie Shakshuka)
    • Healthy Shrimp Scampi Recipe

    Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY like this recipe, consider a review further down the page. Thank you!

    🍳 Recipe

    Spicy rigatoni with red pepper flakes and olive oil plate on the side.

    Carbone Spicy Rigatoni Recipe

    Developed by Clara
    Carbone spicy rigatoni is a delicious spicy tomato-sauce based pasta based off of the famous dish from the restaurant Carbone in NYC. This is a very easy recipe to make that will come together in less than 30 minutes that is also healthy and low-calorie.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings 1
    Calories 364 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 serving Rigatoni, or pasta of choice (52g uncooked)
    • 1-2 Chili or Chili Flakes (Optional: adjust based on spice tolerance)
    • 1 cloves Garlic
    • ¼ tablespoon Onion (Chopped)
    • 2 tablespoon Tomato paste
    • ¼ cup Half and Half
    • 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
    • ¼ cup Pasta Water (Use as needed)
    • Basil (For garnish)

    Instructions
     

    • Prepare the aromatics – Start by mincing the garlic, onions, and chili if using. Mince until they are small pieces so that the aromatics get cooked evenly.
    • Cook the pasta – Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in about 1 tablespoon of salt. Then cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Don’t forget to take a quarter cup of pasta or so after the pasta has been cooking for a while. 
    • Sauté the aromatics and tomato paste –  In a skillet, use ¼ tablespoon of butter and cooking spray if needed and sauté the aromatics. Also add in the tomato paste and sauté until it caramelizes, about 5-6 minutes. Be sure to continue to stir the aromatics so that they don’t burn.
    • Finish the sauce – Bring the heat to low to ensure the half and half doesn’t evaporate. Once the pan has cooled down, add in the half and half and mix the sauce thoroughly, adding pasta water as needed until the sauce is at the right consistency.
    • Mix in the pasta – Add the pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly, adding pasta water in as needed. Mix in part of the cheese as well, saving some for the garnish.
    • Garnish and serve – Remove from heat, garnish with cheese, red pepper flakes, and basil and enjoy your delicious healthy Carbone spicy rigatoni.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 364kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 13gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 374mgPotassium: 437mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 742IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 149mgIron: 1mg

    Notes

    Substitutions and Variations
    With Chicken – Add in some chicken for a delicious, protein-packed meal. 
    Buy the sauce from Carbone themselves – If you don't want to make the sauce yourself, you can try using Carbone's pre-made pasta sauce. I personally like the fresh sauce better, but this is a great shortcut.
    Expert Tips
    Don’t forget the pasta water – The tomato paste and half and half alone might be too thick  to make a proper sauce. Add in pasta water as needed to achieve the desired sauce consistency.
    Lower heat before adding the dairy – High head will make the dairy curdle and evaporate.
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @fitsianfoodlife or tag #fitsianfoodlife!
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    Comments

    1. Lucy

      August 18, 2022 at 3:41 pm

      5 stars
      Tried this recipe for a potluck and really enjoyed it! Ty for the recipe!

      Reply

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