Vodka Sauce
Yet another vodka sauce recipe. This one is easy and very tasty. Serve over penne or your favorite pasta with plenty of fresh grated parmesan and some crusty bread to sop up the extra sauce.
Yet another vodka sauce recipe. This one is easy and very tasty. Serve over penne or your favorite pasta with plenty of fresh grated parmesan and some crusty bread to sop up the extra sauce.
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup vodka
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes crushed
- 3/4 pound prosciutto chopped
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 28-oz can roma tomatoes with juice
- 2 8-oz can tomato sauce
- Carbohydrate 8.07569735375 g
- Cholesterol 63.75352038125 mg
- Fat 20.7547639884375 g
- Fiber 1.87747499956191 g
- Protein 10.6873759928125 g
- Saturated Fat 8.696855126375 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (242g)
- Sodium 1105.69050089375 mg
- Sugar 6.19822235418809 g
- Trans Fat 1.145578686875 g
- Calories 319 calories
Step-by-step
- In a small bowl, combine vodka and red pepper flakes. Set aside for 1 hour.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saut prosciutto, garlic, parsley, basil, salt and pepper until prosciutto is evenly brown. Pour in vodka mixture, and simmer 10 minutes. Crush tomatoes, and stir in with 2 cans of tomato sauce, and 1 (8 ounce) can water. Simmer 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream, and cook 2 minutes - do not allow mixture to boil.
Steeping crushed red pepper flakes in vodka for a full sixty minutes extracts the capsaicin efficiently into the alcohol before it hits the hot pan. This preparation method anchors the dish in mid-twentieth-century Italian-American culinary history, specifically originating in Bologna or among expatriate communities in New York, where distillers and tomato producers intersected. Vodka acts as a molecular bridge between the water-soluble compounds in tomatoes and the fat-soluble compounds in dairy, allowing the sauce to bind smoothly rather than separating.
Sautéing chopped prosciutto, minced garlic, parsley, and basil in olive oil over medium heat builds the savory base before the infused alcohol enters the skillet. Simmering that alcohol mixture for ten minutes evaporates the harsh ethanol bite while retaining the sharp heat of the pepper flakes. Roma tomatoes crushed by hand integrate more evenly than mechanically diced varieties, providing a superior textural foundation when combined with standard canned tomato sauce and eight ounces of water.
Temperature control during the final incorporation stage dictates overall success or failure. Stirring in one cup of heavy cream requires gentle heat for exactly two minutes, and boiling must be avoided entirely to prevent the dairy solids from curdling. Finishing the skillet contents over pasta yields a rich coating that clings to surfaces effectively.
