Friday, April 20, 2012

Pasta Alla Vodka

I would like to welcome back one of my favorite guest bloggers for a post today.  From the city with the worst weather in the US, here's another great recipe from Jeff.



With Dani's new job consuming all of her time, it's lucky that she has such great friends to guest blog for her. One of my favorite pasta sauces is Vodka sauce, and I found a recipe definitely worth sharing. Plus, this took max 30 minutes to make and the pasta can be cooking at the same time. Add this recipe to your list of quick weekday meals.

I found this recipe from one of the most popular bloggers out there,The Pioneer Woman. Her pictures are awesome and she has a picture for every single step. You can literally match up your pot to hers to see if they look the same. As awesome as the blog may be though, it's missing the Dani, uh, unique tone and commentary we all love so much...

100% stealing this photo idea from Pioneer Woman, here are your ingredients:



You can absolutely cook your pasta while making your sauce, but I pre-made my sauce earlier - gotta love working from home.

First step is chopping up your onion and garlic. You'll notice I only used half an onion and I thought it was plenty, if not still too much - depends on your onion tolerance. For me and my mom it's next to zero. Unless you live in Eugene, Oregon where apparently she has found magic onions that don't destroy your tongue.

Anyway, speaking of onion breath, I hate garlic fingers. Despite being marginally OCD, this tip just makes good sense. I always wear a latex-free glove when handling garlic. Your hand stays clean and you get 10 minutes of Michael Jackson fantasy. iPod, glove... check and check.


Be sure to mince up your onion really well. Slap Chop© would've been great here.



Add your butter and olive oil into the pan and fry up your onion and garlic. You can add them all at the same time and cook until there is a hint of brown, then add in your vodka.



Somehow I missed taking a picture of the Goose cooking away... can't imagine why. It's like when a chef tastes the dish right? Make sure it's good? It's good.

After the vodka reduces a bit you add your tomato puree (I used sauce and it was fine) and heavy cream. The only thing I would have changed is finding a low-sodium tomato sauce because the one I used made everything way too salty. Mixed with vodka and heavy cream, my stomach wasn't too thrilled.



Side note: You know what really pisses me off? This.



All that's left is adding in your parmesan and stir. Done. Easy right? I left it on the back burner on "melt" setting, whatever that means.

To go with my pasta, I marinated some chicken in italian dressing and broiled it for about 4.5 minutes per side. And for some green I made a spinach salad with cucumber, tomato, jicama and Good Seasons© Italian dressing.



Pretty legit meal I'd say.

But again, go easy on the salt while making your sauce, and definitely don't add salt to your boiling pot of water.

See you next time.
JJ.



Pasta Alla Vodka
from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 pound pasta
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped Finely
2 cloves (to 3 Cloves) Garlic, Chopped
3/4 cups (to 1 Cup) Vodka
1 can (About 14 Oz.) Tomato Puree (or tomato sauce - I suggest going low sodium)
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 teaspoon (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions
In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add in chopped onion and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for two minutes. Pour in vodka. Stir and cook for three minutes. Add in tomato puree and stir.
Reduce heat to low and tir in cream. Allow to simmer, being careful not to overheat. Stir in red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water in case sauce is too thick. Add cooked pasta to the sauce, tossing to combine. Splash in a little water if it needs it. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
Pour mixture into large serving bowl. Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

aww cuz you're too cute

Anonymous said...

wooow thanks ... great job