Sun-Dried Tomato Vodka Pasta

This is a quick, simple, elegant dish you can serve any time, even for last-minute company. And the best part? Aside from the mushrooms, everything is from the pantry, or is stuff you usually have on hand.

What You Need

2/3 c really good vodka

healthy pinch dried chili flakes

10 oz box shaped pasta; I like fusili, but rotini, elbows or shells will work just as well.

8 oz olive-oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (or a heaping half cup if you buy the big jar from a place like Costco)

8 oz sliced mushrooms…get ones with really good flavor, like portobellos or crimini or shiitake. If you don’t have time to get mushrooms, just omit them….but it’s really, really, really good with mushrooms, so make sure to get some.

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

1/2 c milk or heavy cream

olive oil

What You Do

Put pinch of chili flakes into vodka

Start pasta water boiling

Give the sun-dried tomatoes a quick whirl in a food processor. You want them chopped fine, so give them a few quick pulses in the processor. Don’t have a food processor? No worries, just dice them fine on a cutting board. But be careful, the olive oil they were packed in stains everything.

Once those are chopped, put them in a saucepan, with their oil, and start sauteing them. Add more oil if you need to.

Once the tomatoes are going, add the mushrooms. Add more oil, if needed.

Saute until the mushrooms are soft.

Remove from pan to a holding dish (bowl or plate)

Pour vodka and chili flakes into pan. Bring to boil. Boil for several minutes to cook off alcohol.

Add tomato sauce and cream (if you’re a vegan, you can use soy or rice milk, just use a scant half cup…we use the unflavored kind).

Add sun-dried tomato/mushroom mixture back into pan.

Simmer.

By now, the pasta water should be ready. Add some salt. Add pasta.

Slightly undercook the pasta (by a minute or so).

Drain pasta.

Add pasta a sauce to a large bowl. Mix together

Let it sit for a few mintues so the pasta can finish cooking in the hot sauce, and soak up all that wonderful flavor.

Top with some grated, fresh paremsan (please don’t use that dried stuff from a can), if you’re so inclined.

You can also use a heavy noodle, like fettuccine or really fat spaghetti with this sauce if you don’t have a shaped pasta on hand.

Serve with a green side salad and crusty bread.

Enjoy.