Penne Vodka

THIS is the recipe I was going to make last night, but I didn’t have any almonds. So I got some today and made this sauce. I have to say, I didn’t love it. And, I must confess, I added some heavy cream at the end. The almonds just didn’t make it creamy enough for me. Maybe I didn’t puree the sauce enough at the end? In any case, Toby liked it. I might make this again and leave out the almonds and add the cream. We enjoyed this with some garlic bread and a green salad.

rating:6

Penne Vodka
(from the cookbook “Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)

2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
a few dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil, plus a little extra for garnish
1/2 pound penne

Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Preheat a saucepan over medium/low heat. Add the oil, garlic and crushed red pepper to the saucepan and saute for about a minute, until fragrant, being careful not to burn. Add the crushed red tomatoes, vodka, thyme, oregano, salt and black pepper. Cover, and turn the heat up a bit to bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the water and cook according to package directions.

Once the sauce has simmered for 20 minutes, add the almonds. Use an immersion blender to blend the almonds into the sauce until creamy and only slightly grainy. The pasta should be done by now, so drain and set aside. Add the basil to the sauce, and mix the sauce and pasta together in the pot. Serve, garnished with a little extra chopped basil.