Vodka Sauce
Restaurant quality vodka sauce that comes together in minutes! Pair it with your favorite pasta shape or swap it out for marinara for a fun twist on pizza!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 oz pancetta, finely diced you can also use bacon
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 4.5 oz tube of tomato paste
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 oz vodka
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup Pecorino or Parmesan
- 2 Tablespoons of butter
- Reserved pasta water
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley
- 1 lb your favorite pasta
Instructions
- Saute the pancetta with the onion with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium low until onions are translucent. Deglaze with the vodka, and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Add your tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes, until it resembles the color of bricks.
- Slowly add in your cream and broth. Swirl around and make sure the tomato paste mixture is fully incorporated. Add in the cheese, butter and cook for a few minutes. While the sauce is simmering, cook your favorite pasta to al dente (usually about 8 minutes, but check the instructions on the package). Add salt and pepper to the sauce to taste. If the sauce gets to be too thick, turn off the heat and add in a 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water.
- Drain the rest of the pasta, and add back to the hot pot. Add ladles of sauce and cook on low until all the sauce is incorporated. If needed, add more pasta water. Transfer to a plate, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with extra sauce on the side.
Notes
**A lot of people ask if they can use light cream, half & half, etc to make it a *little* healthier. While there's no major thing wrong with it, the sauce won't come together and be as thick or creamy as if you were to use heavy cream.
**If you're making this sauce for more than 4 people, double the recipe.
**You can make this ahead of time, let it come to room temp, and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you're ready to use it, pour into a sauce pan and turn on low heat until it starts to bubble. You may have to add some water or chicken broth to loosen it.
**You can make this dish, with the pasta, ahead of time and re-heat it. Make sure that you don't add all of the sauce though to the pasta. When you heat it back up, it tends to dry up, and you will need to add more sauce for it to really come together.