Quick And Impressive Pasta With Vodka Sauce
This pasta with vodka sauce recipe uses tomato passata, an ingredient which I know causes some confusion for American cooks. Passata is essentially crushed, sieved tomatoes sold uncooked in a jar. It’s an excellent base for sauces. If you can’t get it, use the best quality canned ripe red tomatoes you can find, drain them and sieve or puree in a food processor. Don’t use tomato paste (a product which is known as tomato purée in the UK and Ireland ). It’s too concentrated and will overpower your sauce if used in these quantities. This pasta with vodka sauce recipe will serve 3-4 people.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or thinly sliced
300ml/7fl oz/1¼ cups of tomato passata (crushed tomatoes)
a handful of fresh basil leaves
300g/11oz of penne or any pasta you like. A small pasta works better than a long one like spaghetti
60g/2oz of butter
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns or ground black pepper
100ml/7fl oz/6-7 tablespoons of cream
1 small measure of vodka (about 2 tablespoons)
salt
3 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan
Method:
1. Gently fry the garlic in the olive oil for about 2 minutes.
2. Add the passata and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the basil and cook gently for about 10 minutes.
3. While the sauce is simmering, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well.
4. On your chopping board, crush the peppercorns with the side of a large knife. I like to do it this way as it gives a nice coarse texture but grind the pepper in a pepper mill or cut right down on the amount if you don't like pepper as much as I do.
4. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large pan. Add the crushed pepper and the drained pasta. Stir well to coat the pasta with the butter. Add the tomato sauce and the cream tossing to coat. Finally, add the vodka, mix again and turn the heat off immediately so that the vodka doesn’t evaporate.
5. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately.
I like to serve some salad and garlic bread with this pasta with vodka sauce.
Why not take a look at some more of my easy dinner recipes?
