Hello fellow foodie,
This past weekend was great! I got my latest short story’s first draft written and sent off to my editor. I’ve also been working a lot more on trying to get my second novel finished. I’ve been making great progress on it, so I’m really excited for it’s completion.
I know we have quite a few vodka sauce recipes and blush sauces already on the blog, but there’s a few things I’ve done differently with this recipe. The first is that this recipe isn’t meant to be made in a big batch and frozen. The other is that there aren’t any mushrooms, prosciutto, or peas in this recipe. It’s a simple, classic, smooth, and creamy recipe meant to be made as a single batch.
The trick to this recipe is the pasta water. It works like magic and makes the sauce nice and thick and silky from all the starch from the pasta. I think I might start using it in my pasta dishes from now on. I’m obsessed with this trick lately. I’ve always known to do this but never really tried it until recently. It does make such a huge difference with the consistency of the pasta and sauce. The sauce even sticks to the pasta better.
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Ingredients
8 oz tomato sauce
** I use my homemade tomato sauce, which I also pressure can. Find the recipe here. You can use any sauce of your preference.5 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 small sweet onion, diced
3 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup vodka
1 cup heavy cream
15 fresh basil leaves
1 lb of pasta
3/4 cup of pasta water, reserved
Directions
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Heat 8 oz tomato sauce and 2/3 cup of vodka sauce in a small sauce pan.
- Heat a large deep pan on medium. Melt 3 Tbsp butter to the pan and add the 2 chopped shallots and 1 diced onion to the pan. Heat until the sweet onion is translucent. Then add the 5 cloves of chopped garlic to the pan. Heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the 15 fresh basil leaves to the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the 8 oz tomato sauce/vodka sauce mixture to the pan and stir for 10 minutes on low. While the sauce is on low, start cooking the pasta.
- Add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir until well combined.
- When the pasta is just about cooked, ladle 3/4 cup of pasta water into a cup and set aside. When the pasta is cooked (we cook ours al dente), use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta into the pan. Add the pasta water to the pan. Then stir the pasta thoroughly and serve immediately.
Directions with photos
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Heat 8 oz tomato sauce and 2/3 cup of vodka sauce in a small sauce pan.
- Heat a large deep pan on medium. Melt 3 Tbsp butter to the pan and add the 2 chopped shallots and 1 diced onion to the pan. Heat until the sweet onion is translucent. Then add the 5 cloves of chopped garlic to the pan. Heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the 15 fresh basil leaves to the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the 8 oz tomato sauce/vodka sauce mixture to the pan and stir for 10 minutes on low. While the sauce is on low, start cooking the pasta.
- Add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir until well combined.
- When the pasta is just about cooked, ladle 3/4 cup of pasta water into a cup and set aside. When the pasta is cooked (we cook ours al dente), use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta into the pan. Add the pasta water to the pan. Then stir the pasta thoroughly and serve immediately.
