History: The story behind the use of vodka in this style sauce is one of the younger ones that we’ve looked at! Sometime between the 1970’s and 80’s the technique of adding the vodka started to appear in both Italy and the US. Today this Italian-American fan favorite is delicious and will you’ll keep coming back to when its time to cook a great dinner!
Ingredients:
1 cup of Vodka
1 small can of tomatoe paste
1 pint of heavy cream
1 stick of salted butter
1 small onion chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
6 slices of thick cut bacon
Fresh basil leaves (to your hearts content)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil
Directions:
This is a recipe from my Aunt Jackie’s kitchen (so secretly this is called Aunt Jackie’s Vodka Sauce). First start by chopping your bacon into bite sizes and cook in a pan until crispy, then set aside. In a saucepan, add olive oil, chopped onions, and garlic. The secret here is not to bring the olive oil up to heat before you add the onions and garlic because this will ensure you don’t burn your garlic (which is bitter and will ruin the taste!!). Cook until the onions start to turn translucent.
Now my favorite part… VODKA!!! CAREFULLY add your vodka to your pan (I may or may not have once accidently burned my kitchen down because the liquor caught on fire…) Once the steam no longer smells like your inhaling a shot, then you are ready for the next step (and treat yourself to a shot, now the rest of your cooking session will be even more fun!) Add the tomato paste and heavy cream and mix well. Place the ENTIRE stick of butter in the sauce (I never said this was healthy “my aunt’s words”). ADD THAT BACON!!!
Take off the heat (to avoid the sauce burning on the bottom of the pan) and add your fresh BASIL ( I cannot express my love for basil, I have it growing in my kitchen window and throw it in everything, we love it.) Add as much basil as you want, and then keep adding more and more and more… you get the point. Salt and pepper to taste like always.
Serve over any type of pasta and top with a mound of shaved parmesan cheese!
Official statement: Today you have a creamy Italian vodka sauce over a bowl of pasta with melting parmesan.
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