Vodka Sauce
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Amazingly creamy, so bright, and super quick + easy. Comes together in 30 min! Serve with additional fresh Parmesan. SO SO GOOD.
Whoa. Just whoa.
This has been on my dinner table almost every day this week.
It’s creamy. It’s bright. It’s quick. It’s easy. And it’s seriously got EVERYTHING you need – pasta, vodka, butter and fresh Parm. Do we need anything else?
I think not. And if you need some protein in this, you can throw in leftover rotisserie chicken and let that saucy goodness soak right in.
I personally love the shape of the radiatore pasta because it catches so much of the sauce but you can also sub in penne, rotini, or rigatoni!
Vodka Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces radiatore pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium shallots, diced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- ¼ cup vodka
- 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; reserve 1 cup water and drain well.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Working carefully, stir in vodka, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Stir in crush tomatoes and sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream and Parmesan until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in pasta, adding reserved pasta water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with basil, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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This sauce is absolutely delicious. I served over lobster filled raviolis and my husband declared it was world class.
So happy to read your review! That’s exactly what I wanted to make-Lobster ravioli with vodka sauce. I’m excited!
Followed the recipe as it is written, and it was really delicious. Thank you!!
I made this last night and it was EXCELLENT!! As good as any restaurant if not better! I used a whole box of rigatoni and subbed in fat free half and half for half the cream but other than that I followed this recipe to a tee. As always #damndelicious!!
This was amazing! I sautéed pancetta in a pan with oil until crispy and added it at the end. Also added about a teaspoon of salt to the sauce while it was reducing and a bit more cream than it called for. 10 out of 10!!
Absolutely delish!!So easy too
It was damn delicious! I think the shallots I had were a little too big and I might use my immersion blender on it next time, but it was outstanding! Definitely making again! Thanks!
Made for the first time tonight. Have added to my “must make” list of meatless dishes.
Omg I love your recipes. But this sauce… this sauce. I DREAM about this sauce. This will forever be a favorite of mine. Thank you
Fantastic flavor. Super easy, pour my Vodka sauce over Lobster Ravioli and hot sausage raviolis .
A must must do!!!
This looks delicious! I cannot wait to try it! Thank you so much! 🙂
Unbelievably delicious! I added shrimp and mushrooms. Thank you for all your great recipes.
This was so good and got the approval of all 3 kids (I am not counting the complaints about basil leaves)!
I made this for company and it was a hit. I used cellentani pasta (kind of curly). I added some freshly steamed shrimp to the dish too. Will definitely make this again!
Just the kind of recipe I was looking for. Thanks for sharing this.
Excellent flavor! I made it for the sauce for my knocci, and everyone loved it.
Thanks for the recipe.
Oops – won’t let me edit my typo. Used it for my GNOCCHI. Lol
Quick, easy, delicious. What more could you want? Why do people even buy jar sauce when it’s this easy to make your own?
This is probably a silly question. However I cannot have alcohol. Can the Vodka be omitted or substituted?
I use pasta water instead!
Chungah – We are a family of 5 so ideally I’d like to make the whole 1lb box of pasta to make this go further. If I do that, do you recommend I double all of the sauce ingredients as well?? Thank you!!
You might check with your health provider. The alcohol evaporates and leaves behind the flavor.
This sauce is amazing! I highly recommend it. I made with sausage tortellini and it was a hit at home, even my 5 year old loved it. This week I’m making double batch to freeze.
Wow! this is so amazing. Never tried pasta with Vodka sauce. I need to try this. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.
This may be a silly question but….Is tomato paste the same as tomato puree
TIA
No, they are two very different things. Paste is much more concentrated.