You know what's better than tomato sauce? Tomato sauce with vodka. Because of their high concentration of alcohol-soluble flavors, tomatoes love vodka like peanut butter loves jelly. Throw in a little heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and basil, and you might decide to skip the pasta altogether.
Pasta with Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce
serves 4
1 pound dried pasta
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups prepared tomato sauce (canned or jarred is fine; extra points for homemade)
¼ cup vodka
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
handful of fresh basil, chiffonade*
Heat the oil in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion along with a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
serves 4
1 pound dried pasta
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups prepared tomato sauce (canned or jarred is fine; extra points for homemade)
¼ cup vodka
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
handful of fresh basil, chiffonade*
Heat the oil in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion along with a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Reduce the heat to low and add the tomato sauce and vodka. Continue cooking the sauce for 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it darkens in color and is slightly reduced.
While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta in salted water, drain, and reserve a cup or so of the pasta water.
Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and heavy cream. Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a little bit of the pasta water to thin it out. Combine the pasta with the sauce (I do this by adding the pasta directly to the pan; no need to dirty another bowl). Plate and top with fresh basil.
*chiffonade = mad culinary skillz. Actually, it's French for "made of rags", but it does make for a pretty presentation and it’s easy. After you’ve washed your basil, separate the individual leaves from the stem and stack them on top of each other with the largest leaves on the bottom. Starting at the long edge, roll the leaves up. You’ll end up with a little basil snake. Now you chop - place your roll of basil seam side down on a cutting board. Starting at one end, slice through the roll in ¼ inch increments. Congratulations, you've just made beautiful little ribbons of basil!
P.S. This technique also works well for sage, spinach, and mint.
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