VODKA SAUCE

VODKA SAUCE

Ingredients:

3TBSP butter

4 TBSP olive oil

2-3 big cloves of garlic - grated

½ tsp (Pinch) red pepper flakes 

6 oz tomato paste

16 oz heavy cream

8 TBSP vodka

1 lb rigatoni (or your favorite pasta that will lift this sauce up where it belongs)

3 TBSP mascarpone

 

This vodka sauce is rich and thick and you’re gonna want to serve it with some bread so you can scrape the plate clean. 

Heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Let it cook until your butter just starts to brown.

Add garlic and stir until fragrant, just as it starts to brown. Add a big pinch of crushed red pepper and keep up the stirring. Add your tomato paste and whisk until everything is evenly combined.

Take the heat down to low and slowly add the heavy cream, whisking or stirring the whole time so it becomes one with everything in the pot evenly. After that, add your vodka and whisk to evenly combine.

Bring the heat back to medium/medium-high and let it cook down, whisking occasionally to keep it from breaking. Cook until the sauce has thickened and reached a deep orange color. Whisk in mascarpone until dissolved. Season to taste.

Usually the wet pasta is enough pasta water to keep this sauce glossy, but reserve a little pasta water in case you need to thin it out. We garnish ours with parmesan, aleppo oil, fried garlic and some torn basil. 

If you make this sauce ahead and want to reheat it, keep some extra cream on hand as it may need more if the sauce gets heated too quickly and breaks. You can whisk it back to life with a little heavy cream.