Penne a la vodka
10 Feb
I went to a liquor store and asked for the cheapest vodka they had. The owner gave me a huge plastic bottle of vodka from upstate New York.
Penne a la vodka is one of my favorite pasta dishes to eat. Never mind favorite; it’s actually one of the few pasta dishes that I actually like. I try to stay away from the heavy cream based sauces. They are delicious but sleep inducing for me, especially after eating it at restaurants!
I didn’t have access to a recipe that I found on Food Blog Search (a great recipe search tool, by the way), so resorted to using a recipe from a cookbook by a person I don’t adore so much.
It was Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals.
The sauce was good, but I’m sure there are better recipes out there. If you have one, please recommend one in the comments!
Apparently, this penne a la vodka was so yummy that it got a man to propose to his girlfriend. So Rachael calls this “You Won’t Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta.” The names keep getting stranger as time goes by, don’t they?
From Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals
Ingredients:
1 can crushed tomatoes (32 ounces)
16 ounces pasta, such as penne rigate
1 cup vodka
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan in a slow stream
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
Coarse salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute shallots for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness.
2. Add vodka to the pan, 3 turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about 1 cup. Reduce vodka by half, this will take 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
4. While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente, no longer than 7 minutes.
5. Stir cream into sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves.
This was good, but it was far from oh-my-gosh-it’s-the-best-I’ve-ever-had good. I made it twice, and the sauce came out watery on both occasions. I resorted to adding a hint of corn starch at the end. I still don’t know why!
Plus, my marital status hasn’t changed even after making this “won’t be single for long” dish. What is up with that?!
