Green Pasta and Sauce with Vodka

The other day at the market, I was looking for something a little different, and decided to buy spinach egg tagliatelle. I figured that green pasta would be intriguing enough to keep my girls interested. Then, I just needed to find a sauce that would work with it. When I came across a tomato vodka sauce, I knew it would be a good fit.

I found the original recipe on the Food Network (courtesy of Emeril Lagasse), and then made my own small alterations. Here is the recipe as I cooked it.

Vodka and Sausage Sauce
(makes enough for roughly 4 servings of pasta)

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 links of mild Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
Small pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove minced garlic
2 cups crushed tomatoes
5 ounces vodka (about 10 tablespoons)
4 ounces heavy cream (about 8 tablespoons)
I teaspoon of basil paste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish (optional)

-- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
-- Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until browned and all pink has disappeared, 3 to 4 minutes.
-- Add the onions, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and golden, about 5 minutes.
-- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
-- Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until thick, about 2 minutes.
-- Add the vodka and cook until the sauce reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
-- Stir in the cream and cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.
-- Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.
-- Toss the sauce with the pasta to coat evenly and transfer to a pasta bowl for serving.
-- Top with cheese to taste.

I have a few additional thoughts on this recipe. First, because it's a cream-based sauce, it think the fact that I used egg-based noodles rather than the standard boxed egg-less pasta was important. The pasta was lighter which made it a better companion to a rich sauce. Second, while the sausage added a nice flavor, I think my veggie and Kosher friends could just as easily eliminate the meat from the recipe. Lastly, I used basil paste since I've found it's a good way to always have basil on hand. But, if you have fresh basil handy, you should substitute that instead. Emeril's original recipe called for 1 to 2 tablespoons of chiffonade basil, but I would use a little more since my recipe increased most of the ingredients.

It was a super easy and quickly made sauce that I'll definitely make again. The whole family really enjoyed it. And the best part of the recipe? As long as the vodka was open, I made myself a little cocktail as I cooked! Now that's yummy.