Having taken a fancy to such gluttony, my husband and I made it exactly one week before declaring an emergency Pasta Night. The craving was out of control. I hadn't used much of my romaine and I still had a garlic scape left, so I looked for a recipe that could incorporate the scape and would pair nicely with a fresh ceasar salad. And had a sauce that was pink! And could be spotted with chunks of buffalo mozzerella! And would be served by a smiley Roman named Paolo and immediately followed by gelato and limoncello! VIVA LA DOLCE VIDA!
This recipe fit most of the bill. I've never actually made sauce from scratch so I was pretty pumped about it:
Penne with Vodka Sauce
Ingredients:
Salt
One 35-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) with their liquid
1 pound penne
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled
Crushed hot red pepper
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil for finishing the sauce, if you like
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for passing if you like
Directions:
Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat.
Pour the tomatoes and their liquid into the work bowl of a food processor. Using quick on/off pulses, process the tomatoes just until they are finely chopped. (Longer processing will aerate the tomatoes, turning them pink.)
Stir the penne into the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until done, 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and add them to the hot oil. Cook, shaking the skillet, until the garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Lower the work bowl with the tomatoes close to the skillet and carefully — they will splatter — slide the tomatoes into the pan. Bring to a boil, season lightly with salt and generously with crushed red pepper, and boil 2 minutes. Pour in the vodka, lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, and simmer until the pasta is ready.
Just before the pasta is done, fish the garlic cloves out of the sauce and pour in the cream. Add the 2 tablespoons butter or oil, if using, and swirl the skillet to incorporate into the sauce. If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat the pasta with sauce. Check the seasoning, adding salt and red pepper if necessary. Sprinkle the parsley over the pasta and boil until the sauce is reduced enough to cling to the pasta.
Remove the pot from the heat, sprinkle 3/4 cup of the cheese over the pasta, and toss to mix. Serve immediately, passing additional cheese if you like.
***
I added a finely diced garlic scape to the sauce in lieu of some of the garlic cloves. That was a nice twist. The instructions seemed to warn against over-processing the tomatoes (the sauce will turn pink! like it's supposed to! look out!) so I erred on the side of a rough chop. Shame-- the tomatoes never quite blended with the oil and, although the sauce tasted delicious, the separation was unappealing. Also, I used whole wheat penne which seemed to overpower the light sauce.
The romaine in the Caesar was outrageous, though. How can lettuce be so good?
Verdict: A few missteps, but it was still a treat. The craving was totally conquered and I feel confident that I can eventually learn to make a great pasta sauce. Sadly, no complimentary limoncello appeared at the end of the meal. Lame.
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