Penne with pepper vodka sauce
Here’s a tasty little recipe that will keep your own torch burning using a little Stoli Hot (jalapeño infused vodka).
Ingredients:
1 Box of Penne Pasta (1lb)
~2 Tablespoons each of Butter & Olive Oil
1/2 Sweet Onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Cup of Vodka (1/2 Stoli Hot, 1/2 plain vodka)
1 Can Tomato Sauce (~15oz)
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
~1/4 Teaspoon each of Rosemary, Basil & Thyme
Generous Cup of grated Pecorino Cheese (can substitute with parmesan)
Black Pepper to taste
How to cook it:
Set your pot of water on the stove and bring to boil. Cook noodles per product directions.
While the water is coming to temperature, heat a frying pan on medium low with butter and oil, adding chopped garlic and onions when ready. Allow these to cook ~10 mins or until translucent then add the vodka. Bring this mixture back up to temperature (you can see it begin to steam and bubble), add the can of tomato sauce, herbs, salt & pepper. Mix well and bring back up to temperature.
At this point I grab a strainer, mine is about 6″ wide and using a ladle pour my vodka sauce thru the strainer and back into the fry pan – so basically I am removing all the chunks of garlic and onion. This is a personal choice of course, you can certainly leave them in, but I prefer a smoother sauce and the garlic and onions have already made their contributions to the party (IMHO). Add the cream and mix well. Grab your pecorino (or parmesan) and grate a generous cup of cheese – take 1/2 a cup or 3/4 cup whatever suits your fancy and dump that into your vodka sauce, mixing well.
The noodles should be done by now, so strain those out using a colander. Fill your bowl with noodles, spoon some vodka sauce over the top and sprinkle on some additional cheese. The Stoli Hot adds a subtle heat well suited to this creamy sauce. You can also substitute the Stoli Hot with bacon infused vodka. Yes, I said bacon!
[…] with Pepper Vodka Sauce Penne pasta with a pepper vodka sauce. (Recipe here: Goodbye Sochi, Hello Stoli! | Adventures in Thyme ) There is a softbox camera right about 45 degrees behind the food and then a gridded light on the […]