‘You Won’t Be Single for Long’ Vodka Cream Pasta

What to do when Nonna sends you back to school with crates full of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic...okay, you might be wondering why I was sent with crates full of these ingredients, but allow me to explain. When my Nonna was my age her spare time did not consist of getting her groove on at various clubs downtown, instead, she was getting her groove on in the kitchen!

Let’s get serious…
First, I would like to get one thing straight for some of you out there. A club is not exactly the place to meet the classiest men/women out there or to win that certain someone’s heart. So why not turn to a place of elegance and culture, a place of much better taste, the kitchen. Ironic enough, I promise you can bring one of your favourite ingredients, from the club to the kitchen.

It's all about the saucy sauce…
I knew my Nonna wanted me to make some nice tomato sauce, fun for some, boring for others. So I have decided to add some flair, for you! I have been making this Tomato Vodka and Cream Sauce for a couple years now (I am not responsible for drool on your PC), and when I saw Rachael Ray making a similar one on the Oprah Winfrey show, it all came together. This must be one of the most amazing sauces out there, and I am saying this as being an all-around sauces, gravies, dips and spreads lover. It’s no wonder why Rachael Ray titles her recipe “‘You Won’t Be Single for Long’ Vodka Cream Pasta”. This dish is sure to have him/her asking for seconds, a second date that is!

WARNING: I have created this blog in hopes that I will learn to track the use of ingredients in my cooking, as my recipes, if you may, do not always include numerical amounts of each ingredient. Being in an Italian kitchen can be a gamble, it involves chance and risk! So if you want to have fun and get messy, you have come to the right place!

However, feel free to refer to Rachael Ray’s recipe as I have to give her credit on her obvious professionalism. One of the initial criteria that attracted me to Rachael Ray’s recipe is her use of chicken stock. Now let me tell you, chicken stock will make almost anything, and I mean anything, taste better. When I made my first homemade, fresh tomato sauce and the flavour was not just right, my mother advised me to add none other than chicken stock. It’s like the next white wine of cooking…well, I would not go that far, I would still recommend never making anything without adding white wine, but that’s a whole other story. Let’s just say, it’s like the next salt!

The Recipe

Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil (keep the whole bottle handy)
Onions (one or so, diced or sliced)
Garlic (a couple cloves, diced or sliced)
Vodka (again, keep the whole bottle handy)
Whole ripe roma tomatoes (fresh or canned/one to two cans)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Double cream (add until you have attained a blush colour)
Basil (fresh or dried)
Pasta (500g or so, I recommend penne rigate, pennoni rigate, or cheese ravioli)

Line a saucepan with your oil and on low to medium heat saute your onions and garlic just until they are soft. Allow to golden, not brown. With a fork you can occasionally add pressure to the onions and garlic to allow their juices to enter the oil. Be patient, this can be the most important step!

If you are using fresh tomatoes you will need to soak them in hot water to allow yourself to peel off the skin before going any further. If you are using canned tomatoes (if store-bought I recommend Pastene, imported from Italy) then they can go directly into your food processor. Crush, but do not puree; a chunkier texture is better. If you do not have a food processor you can always go ahead and crush them with a fork. I have to stress using whole peeled canned tomatoes as opposed to ones that have already been diced or ground for you because you never know what is really in there. Now, go ahead and add your tomatoes to the pan.

Add your vodka, significantly more than the oil, and season. Bring to a heavy boil then allow to simmer, the longer the better. This is a perfect time to make your pasta! Add your choice of pasta to salted boiling water, which I recommend cooking al dente.

When the tomato sauce looks/tastes about ready add your cream, you want the sauce to end up looking blush in colour, sometimes it will look more orange, sometimes more pink – it will taste great either way. Bring to a boil and remove from heat when your pasta is cooked. An alternative to pouring your sauce over the pasta after it is cooked, is to drain the water from the pasta and allow it to finish cooking in the sauce.

You are probably hungry right about now, so finally, garnish or mix with basil!

Buon appetito and I wish you much love,

Haley