Vodka Sauce - As in fine pasta dish not what's in your martini glass!

A few years back I started trying a wider range of pasta recipes.  It didn't take long for me to realize that you can easily make a lot more than basic spaghetti sauce at home, restaurant quality dishes, fairly cheap and without a lot of time and effort.  Now for those occasions when you do have time and effort to spare making your own pasta is not hard and elevates the level of the dish and certainly impresses whoever is eating with you. 

I ran across this recipe in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine.  While Vodka Sauce is not my go to order in restaurants most of the time (I am a bolognese girl at heart) I have enjoyed it many times, often served over a spinach ravioli, at a local hole in the wall Italian place.  I was very pleased with how simple this recipe is, very little prep time but very tasty results. And it is perfect for the non-meat crowd yet still hearty enough so that Brad, traditional male who assumes meal must have meat, can eat and not feel he is missing something.

The recipe calls for a can of plum tomatoes but I opted to use two cans of diced tomatoes because that is what I had in my pantry.  I used all the liquid from the tomatoes and did not need the reserved pasta water and actually had to let it thicken slightly before serving.  I do recommend this with a tube pasta because the sauce can thoroughly coat and nest inside a hollow pasta.


Ingredients:

12 oz Penne or other pasta
1 – 28 oz Can Whole Plum Tomatoes (or two 15 oz cans diced tomatoes)
1 Tbsp Butter
2 Shallots – minced
1 Garlic Clove – minced
¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
½ cup Vodka
2/3 cup Heavy Cream
½ cup Fresh Grated Parmesan plus more for topping
Handful Fresh Basil Leaves - torn

Directions:

Cook pasta and reserve ½ cup water. If using whole tomatoes, dump into a bowl liquid and all and crush with hands. Melt butter over medium heat and sauté shallots until slightly softened (3 min), add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 more seconds, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in vodka, tomatoes, and salt to taste, return to heat and simmer over medium heat stirring often until alcohol cooks off, about 7 min. Stir in heavy cream and cook till sauce thickens, about 3 min. Stir in parmesan and basil. Add pasta and toss to combine adding reserved pasta water if needed. Serve topped with more parmesan and basil.