SG 1: vodka sauce

A food blogger that I follow and admire is Female Foodie. My dad introduced me to her over Sunday brunch one time and I’ve been following her ever since. During lockdown this past spring she began posting a lot of cooking content and one of her most popular recipes was the pink pasta sauce. I thought it was kind of boring because I typically regard most tomato sauces as boring (don’t hate me) and so I happily forgot about it. (A more normal me will brew over recipes I think are interesting for days- WEEKS - at a time until I give in and make the recipe.)

a -very cold- walk with my pup, Libby, today on the Kokosing trail right before pasta sauce extravaganza

But then Brooke (Female Foodie) started posting about the pink sauce again on her Instagram a couple weeks ago and I wasn’t able to forget about it. I found myself plagued with questions like: does vodka really add flavor to a tomato sauce? will the flavors meld together? will I be full when I’m done eating it? I had to find out. And that’s how I found myself splattering red sauce all over my backsplash thanks to my ultra-lux immersion blender on a Tuesday evening.

I was genuinely surprised by how balanced and delicious the finished dish turned out. We also only used half of the sauce (because there are only two eaters in this house) so I froze the other half for easy pasta next week. I would highly recommend this recipe!

Penne alla Vodka, adapted from Female Foodie

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

• 1 medium onion (I like to use organic onions), diced

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 2 TBSP tomato paste (I like the kind that comes in a tube)

• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (I used Cento)

• 2 oz. vodka - TOP. SHELF. just kidding it doesn’t matter

• kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 a box of penne, about 224 g (for two people). I heartily suggest De Cecco brand!

• ~ 3/4 c heavy cream (I used a mixture of cream and half and half because that’s what I had)

• 1/3 c. Parmigiano Reggiano (that good good)

• 2 tsp dried basil (or a handful of fresh)

Specialty tools:

- immersion blender

-spider (to remove penne pasta from water)

Instructions:

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until hot (the time this takes depends on your stove). Add onions and a pinch of salt and cook until they are translucent and are soft, 5-10 minutes. (I got some color on mine but you don’t need to.) Add the garlic and stir until it’s very fragrant.

2. Add the tomato paste and cook it with the onions until it’s sticky and begins to caramelize on the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes right away and stir! Add another good pinch of salt. If your tomatoes start bubbling up right away then turn the heat down to medium low. My crushed tomatoes looked pretty thick in the pot so I added some water to thin them out, about a half cup. If your sauce doesn’t seem too thick you can skip this. Either way the water is going to evaporate out of the sauce, concentrating the flavor, so it all depends on your taste! Cook tomatoes over a gentle simmer (for me this happens over low heat) and stir occasionally/frequently so the sauce doesn’t burn.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil on stove. Once the sauce has been cooking for 30 minutes, season the water generously with salt then add your pasta to the water. Set a timer for 3-4 minutes less than the maximum cook time listed on the package.

4. Back to the sauce- Add basil to it. Bust out your immersion blender, turn off the heat, and blend the sauce right in the pot. Be careful! Then add the cream, vodka, cheese, and another pinch of salt. Turn the heat back on to low, and simmer the sauce for the remaining time it takes for the pasta to cook. Right before the pasta is finished, pour out half of the sauce to save for a later date. *If you’re using a full box of pasta then you may not need to pour any sauce off.

5. When the pasta is finished cooking it should still have a bite to it. Using a spider, transfer your penne directly into the sauce along with a splash of pasta water. The starch in pasta water will naturally help thicken your finished dish, and the pasta will finished cooking in the sauce.

6. Taste a penne after a couple minutes of simmering in the sauce. It should be al dente. Also, add salt to taste! Plate your pasta and finish each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, more Parmigiano, and freshly cracked black pepper. Man, it is so good.

Other things I’m cooking this week:

- Fried rice with broccoli and cauliflower.

- Something with leeks and chicken.

- It’s my birthday week so I bought a bundt pan to make a cake! *crossing fingers* I’d like to make the poppy seed almond cake by Claire Saffitz.

- I’m also starting a new sourdough starter this week. Taking name suggestions (my last one was named Miriam). Would you like to read my musings about my starter?

Also please let me know if there are reoccurring segments you would like to see in this newsletter! I can make it more personal, less, more photos, less, etc.. I’m open to suggestions!

(but for real go make that sauce.)