Penne ‘ala Vodka

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I know this may come a come as shock to many of you but I’m not big on rules. I like to play fast and loose. While I do have some that have to be followed exactly, like my chocolate cake recipe that requires 2 days to make, most of mine are guidelines more than anything else. Here’s one I carry around in my head for emergency purposes when you need something good, quick, easy.

1/2 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Box of pasta (Penne, Rigati or other textured tube pasta)
5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup vodka
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Fill an 8 quart pot with water, allow room for pasta and boil over. Add half cup kosher salt to water, and start to heat. The salt lowers the boiling point of the water as it’s now an “impure” solution. Additionally some of the salt will be absorbed into the pasta through osmosis for flavoring. Peel the garlic and chop coarsely. The smaller you chop the garlic the more intense the flavor will be. What happens is when you chop you break down the cellular structure of the garlic with a knife, you cause the garlic to start a chemical defense reaction. You taste this reaction in potency of the garlic flavor. Take a 5 quart saute’ pan and heat the oil. When it becomes heated add the garlic and stir, being careful not to let it burn. Pour the vodka into the pan. Stir it around until most of the vodka has evaporated. You can cook out most of the alcohol but you can’t cook it all out, its impossible. Next add the heavy cream. Stir slowly until the mixture comes to a boil. When it does lower the temperature to a simmer. Stir occasionally until the volume has been reduced by half (stand the spoon on its end in the pan to help measure). At this point your water should be boiling, so add the pasta and stir. Go back to your skillet and add the tomato sauce and oregano and stir. The sauce should be pinky-orange in color. Now I like my food fully flavored. I also like it grab hold and make sure you notice it, so I add tomato paste. If you’re into more mildly flavored foods leave it out. Once the it has obtained an even mixture, taste it and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper (no double dipping). Keep the sauce at a low simmer until the pasta is al dente’ ( a little firm). Drain and place in a serving dish. Pour the sauce mixture over the pasta and stir to coat. If you used a pasta that is textured or has lines the sauce will have more surface area to build up friction and cling better.

technorati tag: recipies, pasta.

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