Vodka Penne

We've been living in our apartment for two weeks now and only just came up with a title. Thus, our next couple posts are catch-ups for two weeks of title-less blogging. Pay no attention to the time stamps on the bottom of the page...

January 7th, 2010

Vodka Penne

When you see a bottle of Sobieski vodka in a College Park freezer, one thought comes to mind Shots! Shots! Shots! But not this time. For us, our first thought was Penne with Vodka sauce. It being our first night after a long day grocery shopping, we had a fully stocked kitchen and all the ingredients necessary. This was our first true meal cooked in our new apartment.

Pots: 2

Burners: 1

Knives: 1

Shots of Vodka: 1 cup's worth + a splash or 2

Laughs: Endless

Inspired by Lidia Bastanich

Serves 6-8

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 12 oz can tomato sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

6-8 garlic cloves - minced

More than a pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 cup vodka plus 2 tablespoons to put in at the end

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup parmesan

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 pound penne - cooked just shy of al denté

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and sauté garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add both cans of tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 5-6 minutes.

Add the 1/2 cup of vodka and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir every once and a while.

Add cream, butter and parmesan and stir to combine. Let simmer for a couple minutes. Add the final 2 tablespoons of vodka.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Let cook in sauce for a few minutes

Serve with parmesan. Lots of parmesan (we splurged and blew our budgets on Parmigiano Reggiano and we recommend you do too).