Rao's Teams Up With 818 Tequila For A Limited-Edition Boozy Pasta Kit

The world of celebrity and food brand collabs can lead to some very surprising partnerships, and the new team-up between Rao's Homemade and 818 Tequila definitely falls into that category. On the surface the two companies are about as far apart as two brands of food and drink can get. While they are both premium brands, Rao's dates back to 1896, and was founded by an Italian immigrant in a working-class neighborhood of old New York. The tequila brand on the other hand launched just three years ago in 2021, is owned by ubiquitous social media symbol of modern youth Kendall Jenner, and is named after the area code of her home town Calabasas, a place synonymous with new money wealth. Of course, Rao's has always had a soft spot for celebrities, with fans from Frank Sinatra to Leonardo DiCaprio, so maybe a collaboration with Jenner's tequila company doesn't seem so far fetched.

Launching February 13, Rao's and 818 are putting a "tequila twist on a classic pasta dish" with the "PASTA ALLA TEQUILA" kit, a take on classic pasta alla vodka. According to a press release sent to Tasting Table, the recipe mixes 818 Tequila with Rao's marinara sauce, heavy cream, and parmesan for an easy homemade meal that any chef can master. Jenner says, "I love swapping in 818 for other spirits when making cocktails, and we are always showing people how versatile tequila is, so we thought ... why not try it in pasta?"

The Rao's and 818 PASTA ALLA TEQUILA kit includes the tequila and sauce, 818-shaped pasta, a custom dish towel, and recipe card. The kit is a limited-time offering that will only be available as supplies last; it will sell for $50 exclusively through the 818 Tequila website. Director of tequila operations David Yan Gonzalez says of the pairing, "Our 818 Tequila Blanco has bright and citrusy notes from agave and plays well with the slow-simmered Italian tomatoes that Rao's Homemade uses in their marinara sauce." With the ingredients from the kit and the few simple additions, the dish comes together in only fifteen minutes for a unique weeknight pasta dinner.

And if you don't believe combining tequila and pasta sauce is going to work, you can watch Kendall and her sister Kylie make the dish in real time. In a video posted to the 818 website for Kendall's new show called "81-ATE," the two make the dish at home together and tape their reactions to tasting the pasta for the first time. Even if the celebrity side of things doesn't interest you, the combination of a timeless pasta sauce and high-end tequila brand will certainly make for an intriguing dish. Hey, sometimes surprising partnerships really do work out.