Dana’s Rigatoni a La Vodka

My wife took over the blog for the day.  Here is Dana!

I am from Queens, NY and one of the main Italian cuisine staples is vodka sauce!  I wanted to make a delicious vodka sauce to celebrate our 2^nd anniversary.  We both loved this meal.  I hope you enjoy it!

Dana’s Rigatoni a La Vodka

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. When the oil is hot, sauté the onions until they are golden
brown.

On my stove, it takes about 8 ½ minutes.

After you have browned the onions, add the crushed tomatoes to the saucepan. Stir in the oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce for 1 hour.

About 30 minutes into the sauce simmering process, heat 4 tbsp of butter in a skillet over
medium heat. Saute the mushrooms and hot pepper flakes until the mushrooms are golden.

On my stove, it took approximately 15 mins, but this will differ for everyone.

Add the vodka slowly to the mushroom mixture and simmer for 5 minutes to cook off the
alcohol.

Add the heavy cream to the mushroom / vodka mixture and bring to a simmer (this took
approximately 5 min on my stovetop).

Pour the cream mixture into the tomato puree and stir. Keep the sauce warm while you cook
the pasta.

Add approximately 1 tbsp of kosher salt to 6 quarts of water and bring the water to a rolling

boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook uncovered until the pasta is al dente (follow the
cooking directions on your box of pasta for the al dente recommendation).

Drain the pasta well.

This step is extra – we didn’t take this step on the day we had leftovers, but we did it on the first
night – Melt the remaining 4 tbsp of butter in a large skillet. Stir in the pasa to glaze and then
add the parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in the about 1/3 of the sauce with the pasta. Top each plate with some additional sauce
and pass the remaining sauce and additional cheese at the table. This last step is up to you.

We stirred in 1/3 of the sauce and added just a little bit to the top of each of our plates. We saved
the rest for leftovers!

As a NY native, I was very pleased with this recipe. It was DELICIOUS. I hope you enjoy it.

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Dana's Rigatoni a La Vodka

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6

Author: Dana

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1, 28 oz can crushed tomato I used Cento
• 1/8 tsp dried basil leaves or you can use approx. 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/8 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt I used kosher salt
• ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 8 tbsp butter you will use 4 tbsp at a time
• 12 oz. fresh white mushrooms quartered, about 3 cups (next time I will use freshly sliced mushrooms)
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste….this was enough for me, I like things mild….my husband could use more
• ½ cup vodka
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ pounds rigatoni pasta or you can use 1 ½ pounds penne I like the Barilla brand
• ¼ cup dry parmesan cheese plus additional for the table!

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. When the oil is hot, sauté the onions until they are golden
2. brown. On my stove, it takes about 8 ½ minutes. After you have browned the onions, add the
3. crushed tomatoes to the saucepan.
4. Stir in the oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce for 1 hour.
5. About 30 minutes into the sauce simmering process, heat 4 tbsp of butter in a skillet over
6. medium heat. Saute the mushrooms and hot pepper flakes until the mushrooms are golden.
7. On my stove, it took approximately 15 mins, but this will differ for everyone.
8. Add the vodka slowly to the mushroom mixture and simmer for 5 minutes to cook off the
9. alcohol.
10. Add the heavy cream to the mushroom / vodka mixture and bring to a simmer (this took
11. approximately 5 min on my stovetop).
12. Pour the cream mixture into the tomato puree and stir. Keep the sauce warm while you cook
13. the pasta.
14. Add approximately 1 tbsp of kosher salt to 6 quarts of water and bring the water to a rolling
15. boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook uncovered until the pasta is al dente (follow the
16. cooking directions on your box of pasta for the al dente recommendation).
17. Drain the pasta well.
18. This step is extra – we didn’t take this step on the day we had leftovers, but we did it on the first
19. night – Melt the remaining 4 tbsp of butter in a large skillet. Stir in the pasta to glaze and then
20. add the parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly.
21. Stir in the about 1/3 of the sauce with the pasta. Top each plate with some additional sauce
22. and pass the remaining sauce and additional cheese at the table. This last step is up to you. We
23. stirred in 1/3 of the sauce and added just a little bit to the top of each of our plates. We saved
24. the rest for leftovers!

Recipe Notes

Adapted from food.com