Homemade Creamy Vodka Pasta
Printable Recipe (click to expand)
Creamy Vodka Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Pre-heat a large sauté pan with olive oil and fry onions until they are soft and translucent, then add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, vodka, fresh basil and pepper sauce to the pan and bring liquid to a boil, cover, lower the heat and let liquid simmer for at least 30 minutes.
- Start preparing pasta as per package instruction once sauce has been simmering for at least 30 minutes.
- While pasta is cooking, remove sauce from the heat and puree about 1 cup of sauce, then mix it back into the larger pan.
- Let sauce cool for 5 minutes then mix in cream.
- Once noodles are done, drain them and mix them into the sauce, top with parmesan and serve!
Notes
Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!
For a long time I never really understood what the appeal was of adding vodka to pasta sauce, maybe it was because I’ve had a hard time finding a gluten-free vodka or because I love my homemade pasta sauce on it’s on, either way I just wasn’t interested in trying it out.
It wasn’t until I came accross a mouth-watering Creamy Vodka Pasta recipe from Julia’s Album that I decided give vodka pasta a try. Since I had no plans for dinner that night and had a bottle of vodka in my freezer I figured why not give it a try.
The recipe was a HUGE hit and the vodka added a unique sharp flavor that balanced out the sweetness of the tomatoes. Needless to say I’ve since made this dish a number of times, tweaking it a little here and there but the most notable change was making the sauce gluten-free by using Cowichican Vodka made with local fruit grown here in British Columbia (it’s AWESOME to drink on it’s own as well).
This is a great pasta dish if you’re looking for those nights you’re feeling a little indulgent and want something make something special while at the same time easy enough to whip up any night of the week!
Enjoy and please leave a comment below letting me know how it turned out!
Step 1 – Fry your Onions
Pre-heat a large sauté pan with olive oil, then add your onions and fry until they are soft and translucent; seasoning with a little salt and pepper as needed, then add your garlic.
When I first started cooking I would always add my garlic and onions at the same time, however, I noticed pretty quickly that those small pieces of garlic cook a lot faster than onions, and would end up burning the garlic (not the most pleasant flavor or aroma). So to avoid overpowering your dish with the taste of burned garlic, only add it once the onions are cooked and light sauté for a minute or two. Trust me it’ll make a huge difference!
Step 2 – Stew & Simmer
Now that your onions and garlic are done, add your tomatoes, pepper sauce and vodka into the pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Once it reaches a boil lower the heat on your stove to low, cover and let the liquid simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Patience is key here! You want to make sure that the canned tomatoes have enough time to cook properly and absorb the flavour of the vodka. I’ve made the mistake of rushing this step (more than a few times) and have ended up with sauce that just tasted like canned tomatoes – it was pretty close to inedible.
I realized that whenver I rushed this step it was because I’d started cooking the noodles the same time as I started the sauce. So by the time the noodles had finished boiling I would just make haste and finish making the sauce so I could serve the pasta right away. I’ve since learned from my mistake and now I let my sauce simmer for 30 minutes, then start to boil the pasta water. Once the pasta’s in the boiling water, I then move to step 3 (and everything times out perfectly!) 😊.
Step 3 – Blend, Toss & Serve
Once the sauce has simmered for at least 30 minutes, turn off the heat and ladle out about 1 cup of sauce into a medium size bowl and/or a blender, puree then add the puree back into the sauce. Let the sauce cool for another 5 minutes then gently mix in your cream.
It’s really important that you let sauce cool a little before adding the cream, if the sauce is too hot the cream may separate and become gross clumpy chunks.
To be perfectly honest I had to shoot this recipe twice because I made that very mistake the first time (so I made this recipe two nights in a row). Those extra 5 minutes make all the difference between a rich creamy sauce and a clumpy separated sauce.
Once the cream has been mixed into the sauce, your pasta should also be ready, so add them into your pan, mix and serve with some parmesan cheese!
Alternatively, if you want to add a little extra flavor I strongly suggest frying up some sliced button mushrooms and serving then over the pasta (it’s a truly delicious addition – if you like mushroom).
Items Featured in this Post:
Creamy Vodka Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Pre-heat a large sauté pan with olive oil and fry onions until they are soft and translucent, then add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, vodka, fresh basil and pepper sauce to the pan and bring liquid to a boil, cover, lower the heat and let liquid simmer for at least 30 minutes.
- Start preparing pasta as per package instruction once sauce has been simmering for at least 30 minutes.
- While pasta is cooking, remove sauce from the heat and puree about 1 cup of sauce, then mix it back into the larger pan.
- Let sauce cool for 5 minutes then mix in cream.
- Once noodles are done, drain them and mix them into the sauce, top with parmesan and serve!
Notes
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I never thought of adding Vodka to pasta. I am a fan of pasta, even thought I mostly eat pasta made out of konjac, but the sauce I make is the same as for normal pasta. I will give this a try, hope that my pasta will not get us drunk :))
I love Vodka Sauce, but have not made it since GF because a reality in our home! I will have to give it a try with GF Vodka, did not know it even existed! Thanks!
Oh wow! An alcoholic pasta! What an interesting twist to making it with wine. Will surely give this a go!
I have never tried any recipe with vodka sauce but this recipe looks irresistible. I should give it a try.
Thanks! Hope you get to try it out soon!
I used to buy vodka sauce all the time but never thought about actually making it myself. You have inspired me. Thanks so much!
As with a few others, I would never have thought to add anything other than red wine to a pasta dish! My girlfriend doesn’t take alcohol, so I am going to have to try this one on my own! Though I wonder what happens if you are a little bit more liberal with that 1/2 cup of vodka! Ha. Great post!
I’ve had the same question myself and have doubled the vodka before, still turned out great but is a little strong for my taste.
My husband loves pasta & I am so excited to try this sauce out for him!
It’s such a nice dish, and a fun change up from the regular!
You had me at Vodka! I have had this in Italy and it’s stunning!
This looks super yummy! I want to try it!
Yummy we love vodka cream sauce when we go out for Italian. I have never tried to make it before, but your easy to follow recipe has inspired me to try it out. I will be pinning this to fir easy reference, thanks 😃
I love penne alla vodka and order it whenever I got to an Italian spot! I’ve never really thought about making it at home. I’ve bought pre-made sauces but it’s not the same. I just may give this is a try. Thanks for all of the tips. I’ve definitely burnt garlic trying to cook it with the onions. Lol!
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