Wayne's Vodka Sauce
I gained a new level of appreciation for this sauce when I tried making it from scratch with my own twists. Enjoy it!
I gained a new level of appreciation for this sauce when I tried making it from scratch with my own twists. Enjoy it!
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ground black pepper
- 1 large spanish/sweet onion chopped
- 4 clove garlic diced
- 1 pound ground sirloin cooked, drained and set aside
- 1/4 cup olive oil i use extra light
- 1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup vodka i use a medium to high end vodka
- 2 (28 ounce) cans peeled plum tomatoes with juice i use fresh canned from mom's garden
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano chopped
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese i use digiorno
- Carbohydrate 44.3732100604701 g
- Cholesterol 139.700502172627 mg
- Fat 27.8887710155699 g
- Fiber 0.779793742559123 g
- Protein 23.9659517904058 g
- Saturated Fat 11.7044280111283 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (220g)
- Sodium 142.920900774415 mg
- Sugar 43.593416317911 g
- Trans Fat 3.43584014623083 g
- Calories 612 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook the ground sirloin in a separate pan until brown. Let cool then remove fat by pressing into strainer, set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375(F) degrees.
- Heat the oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan with cover on medium heat. Add the onions and garlic (garlic can go in 1st for a couple minutes) and cook for about five minutes until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and dried oregano and cook for three minutes more. Add the vodka and cook until mixture is reduced by half.
- Remove from heat, crush the tomatoes into the pan with your hands (or use fresh canned). Add two teaspoons salt, a pinch of black pepper and the meat. Stir well, place cover on the ovenproof pan and place it in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Place small amounts of sauce in the blender and puree until smooth. Do not add too much hot/warm sauce to blender or you will be sorry, fill it to half. Return all of the blended sauce to the pan on medium to low heat.
- Stir in fresh oregano, heavy cream, parmesan cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until sauce is to your liking, I simmer for 1-2 hours.
- Prepare the pasta and add sauce on top, serve with fresh bread.
Standard ingredient lists cannot convey the chemical function of high-proof alcohol in an emulsion of tomatoes and dairy, specifically how ethanol acts as a bridge between water-soluble flavor compounds and fat-soluble ones that otherwise refuse to mix. Vodka sauce emerged in Italy and Italian-American communities during the 1970s, popularized when distillers marketed neutral spirits to culinary markets seeking ways to brighten rich tomato gravies without masking their fundamental acidity. Without reducing the vodka by half before adding canned plum tomatoes, raw alcohol will impart an unpleasant, sharp burn that overpowers the aromatics and prevents the sweet notes of the alliums from emerging during the long braise.
Braising the sauce covered in a 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven for one and a half hours utilizes gentle, all-around radiant heat to break down the connective tissue in the ground sirloin while concentrating the tomato sugars without scorching the bottom of the pan. Blending hot liquids creates expanding steam that blows blender lids off counters, so batches must be limited to filling the container halfway while allowing the cooked mixture to cool for at least 15 minutes beforehand. Stirring in the heavy cream and grated parmesan cheese only after the long simmer preserves the milk proteins from curdling under prolonged high heat.
Pairing this robust pasta dish with crusty fresh bread offers a textural counterweight that absorbs excess sauce lingering on the plate. Substituting pancetta for the beef changes the fat profile entirely, requiring an adjustment to the initial olive oil quantity.
