Food & memories, memories & food. Years ago when the world was steady, I met a fantastic chef/fellow blogger. She shared her take on her Grandmother’s “all vodka” recipe. Spaghetti alla Vodka a memory Little Jewel.
ALLA VODKA
Vodka sauce is a pink sauce with a splash of booze that is somewhere between a tomato sauce and an Alfredo sauce. The sauce was surely created in Italy way before it became popular in America. Not to worry, the alcohol inherent in vodka is cooked out completely during the cooking process.
TOMATO INFUSED VODKA
Key to the recipe are the vodka soaked tomatoes. Do not skip these, they are easy to make. Just place ripe, large peeled garden tomatoes in a glass jar (with a lid) and cover them with vodka. Cover and put tomatoes away in the refrigerator for at least 5 days to do their magic. Make sure to fill the jar to cover the tomatoes with vodka, if they float up use a wooden skewer to anchor the tomatoes.
ITALIAN SPAGHETTI ALLA VODKA
This recipe originated from my friend’s Grandmother in Italy. I will vouch, this is a real Italian family. I enjoyed our days cooking with this fellow chef, always something to learn.
Prepare a large pot of boiling salted water, hold a low boil.
The sauce is so easy to prepare. Lightly sauté onions and garlic together in olive oil, just until translucent. Next add the pureed tomatoes and tomato vodka. Simmer about 10-15 minutes. Add the sliced basil*, red pepper flakes, and heavy cream, stir and allow sauce to heat through.
Add the spaghetti to boiling salted water and cook to package instructions. Reserve some of the pasta water to use if the sauce seems too thick.
Stir in the drained spaghetti to the sauce. Toss lightly to coat the spaghetti. Serve the spaghetti in a large shallow bowls with additional grated Parmesan, drizzle of olive oil and more red pepper flakes if you like spicy.
CHIFFONADE
This a French cooking term which is the culinary preparation of herbs or leafy vegetables sliced into long, thin ribbons. Simply tighly roll 2-3 basil leaves together then slice crosswise in thin strips.
PASTA BOWLS
A collection of plain white pasta bowls are a worthwhile kitchen investment. I have two types, the shallow bowls you see here and deeper large bowls for ragus and larger pastas.
No. 563 Spaghetti alla Vodka, a shared Little Jewel from the Kithen Recipe Collection.
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