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Spiked?! You ask?

YES!!

First, this is simple to make and amazing sauce to boot! I think this is the way we will be making spaghetti sauce from scratch for a quick dinner from now on.

Next time I will be putting in some mushrooms and some other veggies to mix things up but this recipe is so versatile that you can add or subtract what you like.

A word of advice? Be careful with the vodka! My husband was in the kitchen chatting with me while I made dinner since it was one of the rare nights that Mei was sleeping while dinner was being made and eaten when all of a sudden, my pan of sauce went up in flames!

I managed to flambe the sauce when I added the vodka! I think I poured the vodka in with a bit of gusto and a bit of it managed to reach under the pan to our gas burner and next thing you know I was grabbing the pan and holding it out, off the heat, away from the cabinets so that we wouldn’t set our kitchen on fire! My husband had nothing but giggles and jokes to make the whole rest of the night and for the rest of the time it took to make the pasta. The recipe does require you to reduce the alcohol, and flambe-ing it does achieve that result much faster, but with a little more care, you can avoid the fire-breathing pan of delicious pasta sauce that I encountered.

We boiled two sets of pasta, one regular bunch of pasta for me and one spicy, red pepper pasta for my husband. It was a gift from our friends in Portugal and while spicy, he found it very tasty! Then we enjoyed putting some fresh grated parm on top and fresh basil, making the pasta photo worthy and looking too good to spend much more time taking photos. Give this a shot! It won’t disappoint!!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb pasta
  • 1 TBS olive oil
  • 1/2 C finely chopped onions
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 C vodka
  • 1/4 C chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
  • 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 C cream
  • shaved parmigiana

In a frying pan or saute pan, heat the oil then add the onion sauteing until they are tender and translucent. THen add 1/4 tsp of salt, pepper, and garlic, sauteing for one minute.

Then add the vodka, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sacue for three minutes or until reduced by half.

Stir in the rest of the salt, broth, and tomatoes and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly in a bowl or in a blender. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree the sauce, making sure not to leave any visible bits of onion in the sauce. Then return the sauce to the frying pan.

Boil water for the pasta and cook the pasta according to directions.

Mix in the cream to the sauce in the frying pan and cook for two minutes over medium heat, warming the sauce.

Once the pasta has cooked, drain it and put the pasta in the bowl that you blended the sauce in and pour the pasta sauce on top of that, tossing the entire mixture until all the pasta is coated. Serve in individual dishes then garnish with fresh cut basil and grated or shaved parmigiana and enjoy!

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