I know we said that we don’t eat pasta that much… that may have been a little white lie! We LOVE it, especially when it’s homemade sauce! Okay, we might have just had a housewarming party and were left with the perfect amount of vodka for this sauce…but hey, when it comes to cooking you work with what you’ve got. Plus we like to think it’s healthier and it uses less salts, sugars, and preservatives than what you can get in a can. This recipe combines the rich flavors of the vodka and tomato to meld into a sinfully savory dinner.

What You Need:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 – 1/2 cups tomato paste
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of vodka
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• Lots of grated Parmesan cheese for topping
• 1 pound Penne (or any pasta of your choosing)
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

What You Do:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, the salt helps add some flavor to the pasta.
• In a large frying pan over medium-low heat, add the olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant.
• In the same pan, melt the 3 tablespoons of butter and the cream; stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn.

• In a separate bowl, mix the tomato paste and vodka until smooth and add to the frying pan and stir until the liquid is mostly evaporated… about 5 minutes.
• Add half of the basil and season with salt and pepper.

• Remove from heat when the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook  the pasta in the large pot of boiling water according to directions on the box, or until al dente.
• Drain, reserving 1/2 – 1 cup of pasta cooking liquid.
•  Add the pasta to the pan with sauce along with the remaining tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of cooking liquid to blend the flavors.

• Cook over medium heat until sauce is silky, adding more cooking water tablespoons at a time until you reach your desired consistency. We liked ours to be evenly coated but light at the same time so that the meal didn’t feel weighed down.
• Add Parmesan cheese and salt & pepper to taste.
• Divide pasta evenly and top with more Parmesan and basil.

Now it’s time to dig in!