Sunday Night Dinners

Sunday, February 11, 2007

In exchange for my parents having to put up with me living at home (though they love me being home), I offered to be the designated Sunday cook. I miss cooking and it gives them both a break from the kitchen so we all gain from this arrangement. On the menu today is Rachel Ray's You-Won't-Be-Single-For-Long Vodka Cream Pasta: a tribute to this week's V-day celebrations. It is a simple recipe actually and it was a lot of fun to cook.

Ingredients
Course salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 ounces pasta, such as penne rigate
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 cup vodka
1 cup chicken broth
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
Crusty bread

Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta. When the water boils, add salt and penne. Cook according to package directions to al dente. Drain

Cutting the shallots made me cry.

Here we have the minced shallots and garlic, along with the shredded basil.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, butter, and shallots. Gently saute garlic and shallots to develop their sweetness.

Add vodka and cook to reduce by half.

Be careful not to inhale the evaporating vodka. It might be an interesting way to do vodka but it almost made me choke.

Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

(In my drunken stupor, I forgot to take pictures of the sauce and the next few steps.)

Stir cream into the vodka sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve immediately along with crusty bread. Yum!

An easy, quick recipe.