Vodka Sauce

For a while now, my mom and I have wanted to learn to make classic Italian vodka sauce. Whenever we saw it in restaurants, we would wonder what gave it that nice light red/orange color. We decided that it was time to find out.

The recipe turned out to be pretty simple. We puréed and sautéd some onions and garlic, browned some tomato paste, and were feeling pretty good about ourselves until it was time to add the vodka.

But after conducting a thorough search of the kitchen, we were forced to conclude that we didn’t have any vodka. What we had was gin, so that’s what we used.

We’ve now made the sauce three times – once with gin and twice with vodka – and I really can’t detect much of a difference between the two. I actually don’t think the addition of the alcohol does much of anything for the flavor of the sauce (although my mom, who probably has a much more discerning pallet, might disagree). The answer to the mystery of the light sauce color seems to be the dairy (yogurt, sour cream, or crème fraîche), rather than the vodka.

Either way, this sauce brings a strong savory tomato flavor that is just bit creamy and a bit spicy. It’s a welcome addition to our pasta repertoire.

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 onion
  • Olive oil
  • Red pepper flakes
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • ¼ cup vodka/gin
  • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, or crème fraîche (I used yogurt)
  • Pasta noodles of choice

Steps

  1. Peel and dice onion and garlic and then blend into a fine purée
  2. Sauté onion and garlic with olive oil in a stovetop pan on medium heat and cook until the onions are translucent
  3. Add tomato paste to the pan after the onion and garlic have cooked for a few minutes. Let the paste brown, stir the mixture a bit, and season with red pepper flakes
  4. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for a while, about 15-20 minutes. Add a few tablespoons of hot pasta water if the mixture is sticking too much.
  5. After 15-20 min, add ¼ cup vodka and stir to deglaze the pan.
  6. Add ¼ cup yogurt, sour cream, or crème fraîche and stir to combine
  7. When the pasta is almost cooked (two minutes before done), reserve a cup of pasta water. Add some of the pasta water to the sauce pan. Start with 1/4 cup and add more if necessary. Stir briefly until the sauce has thickened slightly.
  8. Add the almost cooked noodles to the sauce pan and toss to completely coat the pasta and finish cooking to the desired tenderness. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and extra red pepper flakes.

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