A Perfect Rainy Day Dinner

Summer has ended...sigh...but I still have tons of tomatoes from my garden and pureed in my freezer. I usually make sauce with them. But even Italians can get sick of homemade sauce so I needed to change it up a bit.

Of course, I ended up making a whole big pot of sauce. We usually make pizza or chicken parm when there's fresh sauce. Been there, done that way too many times lately.  I was in need of something new. I searched through my cabinets and found myself in the liquor cabinet staring at a huuuuge bottle of vodka. Like ginormous. Someone gave it to us a a gift last year...it was that big that it was still unfinished. Bloody Mary's are my favorite so I  always have vodka on hand.

There it was...vodka sauce. What goes better together than tomato and vodka?! It would not come from a jar or from a restaurant. Super easy to make with an already homemade batch of fabulous sauce.

I searched lots of recipes as I usually do the first time I make something. Most of them use crushed tomatoes instead of sauce. Finally found a few, one by my arch nemesis Giada DeLaurentis, which I will admit I was inspired by. She's just a bit too over the top for me, with her forced Italian accent and unnecessarily elaborate cooking methods. She's way too skinny to seriously eat her own food! Anyways, I created my own recipe...

Vodka Sauce

Makes 4 servings

• 3-4 cups of homemade sauce...or one jar of your favorite sauce would do 
• 3/4 cup of vodka
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream, room temp
• 5 slices cooked bacon
• 1/3 cup of grated cheese..I used Romano
• Red pepper flakes
• Garlic Powder
• One pound of pasta

In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine your sauce and vodka. Simmer for about 25 minutes in order to cook all the alcohol out. Stir frequently.

Meanwhile, cook your bacon. Chop into coarse pieces.

Taste the sauce after 25 minutes to make sure it doesn't taste too strongly of vodka...unless you wanna get a bit of a buzz from your dinner.

Slowly add your cream and whisk thoroughly.  Add the grated cheese, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce til smooth. Lower the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes.

The sauce should be somewhat thick and creamy. And pink!  Then add your bacon.

Serve over your favorite pasta! 

Perfect rainy day meal.

You're Welcome.