Pasta Alla Vodka

I'll admit it: I have often used prepared spaghetti sauce as a jumping off point for a quick meal. And, most of the time, it's an inexpensive canned sauce, not a name-brand jarred sauce. Sure, I add some seasonings, and I stir in browned ground beef. I may add some pepperoni, too, if I'm throwing together a quick cavatini. 

However, after Jill made a from-scratch version the last time we visited, I may be a changed woman.

Her homemade sauce was quick and easy and a whole lot tastier than my doctored-up prepared sauce. And it was still ready in 30 minutes or less. Win - win!

She often serves it meatless. But, because she knows her dad is a "meat-is-a-meal kind of guy," Eric grilled some chicken breasts to go with the pasta. I did the same when I re-created the recipe here at home. We both added a tossed salad. 

Jill says it reminds her of her favorite restaurant pasta sauce. Brooke prefers her pasta without sauce. Rigatoni pasta creates great finger jewelry for kindergarteners - just in case you wanted to know. The rest of us ate it with a fork. 

I've made it twice here at home since. One time, like Jill, I served it with grilled chicken. 

The next time, I added about 3/4 of a pound of already browned hamburger to the sauce. 

 

The original recipe called for 16 ounces of pasta. I decided I'd rather have it a little "saucier," so I decreased to about 12 ounces of dried pasta when I served it with the chicken. For my hamburger version, I used about 8 ounces of pasta so that there was plenty of sauce.

It's also important to save some of the pasta water as you drain the noodles. I've heard chefs say that on Food Network, but I hadn't necessarily followed suit. The need for this was confirmed this week with one of those random articles that your search engine promotes. I actually clicked on the one titled "36 Common Cooking Mistakes You Should Actually Ditch ASAP" from Buzzfeed. A few of the mistakes were related to pasta:

• You undersalt the water: When adding pasta to boiling water, the pasta will absorb part of the water as it cooks. If you don't salt the water, the food will remain bland. But if you do, it'll be seasoned from within, which is a sure-fire way to achieve pasta greatness. If you're wondering how much salt you should add to the water, the answer is: more than you think! Italians will tell you it should be "as salty as the sea," and while that's a charming overstatement, it's not that far from the truth. Most of the salt you add will get lost in the water, so to make sure some of it gets in the pasta, you need to be generous.
• When cooking pasta, you don't reserve any of the pasta water. Pasta cooking water is filled with starch — that will help bind the pasta and sauce together and make the sauce silkier. It's also already salted, making it more flavorful than basic water. So the next time you make pasta, save 1/2 a cup of cooking water that you can then use in the sauce. (This recipe says to save more, and I probably used more than 1/2 cup, but not nearly 2 cups.) 
• You rinse pasta after draining it: Rinsing the pasta will strip it of its starch, which is something you need if you want to make your sauce super silky and yummy. The only times when it's fine to rinse pasta is if you're making pasta salad or using it in a stir-fry.

Bon appetit!

 

 Pasta Alla Vodka

Adapted from Delish.com

 

3 tbsp. butter

1 shallot or 1 small onion, minced

2 cloves, garlic, minced

1/2 cup tomato paste

2 tbsp. vodka

Salt to taste

8 to 12 ounces tubed pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

1/2 cup cream or half and half

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (plus more for serving)

Fresh basil for serving (if available)

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (opt.) 

 

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add shallot or onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.

 

Add tomato paste and red pepper flakes (if desired) and cook; stirring frequently, until paste has coated shallots and garlic and it's beginning to darken, 5 minutes. Don't burn.

 

Add vodka to pot and stir to incorporate, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Turn off heat.

 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. (I used rigatoni.) Reserve 2 cups of pasta water before draining. 

 

Return sauce to medium heat and add 1/4 cup pasta water and cream, stirring to combine. Add half of the Parmesan and stir until melted. Turn off heat and stir in cooked pasta. Fold in remaining Parmesan, adding more pasta water - about a tablespoon at a time - if the sauce is looking dry. Season with salt, if needed. Serve topped with more Parmesan and torn basil leaves. If you don't have fresh basil, you can sprinkle in a little dried basil with the tomato paste, if desired. 

Notes:

• We don't like spicy food, so I didn't use any red pepper flakes. I got this recipe from Jill after she served it to us. She didn't add red pepper flakes when serving to us. However, she and Eric added some at the table. 
• The original recipe called for 16 ounces of pasta. I decided I'd rather have it a little "saucier," so I decreased to about 12 ounces of dried pasta when I served it with grilled chicken. When I added 3/4 pound of hamburger to the sauce, I used only 8 ounces of pasta.
  
• As the recipe says, be sure and save some of the pasta water to "loosen" up the sauce. To reheat any leftover pasta, you may want to add another splash of cream. Pasta always needs a little help with moisture when it comes to leftovers, but the extras are tasty anyway!