Pasta With Vodka Sauce

BINGO!

Hi! I had the same thing happen to me a week ago. I’d run out of vodka so used dry vermouth. Great minds think alike. Hope it hit the spot. x

In this case it reads 1/3 cup chopped – so chop first, then measure out to 1/3. Honestly herbs are so forgiving, it shouldn’t make much of a difference. Happy cooking!

Becka, my go-to for lighter sauces is usually to top with pan-seared scallops, but shrimp or slices of grilled chicken also work. And it doesn’t have to be integrated with the sauce – my kids prefer the meat sauceless, then they use it to wipe up any remaining sauce at the end.

I would do a chicken piccata on the side!

I have had a lot of success replacing heavy cream in pasta sauces with unflavored nutpods. https://www.nutpods.com
The taste and texture are usually spot on (though sometimes I splash a bit less pasta water in at the end) and you don’t risk the grainy- or watery-ness of some other plant-based milks!

Thank you Lauren! I’ll have to give it a try.

I make a vegan penne vodka all the time using a recipe by Isa Chandra Moscowitz! It uses a cashew cream you make by blending veggie stock with cashews. The cashew cream works great and is delicious. Highly recommend!

Hi Kate, just chiming in to say I too do a vegan penne vodka with cashew cream! The recipe I use is a family recipe of a friend but when I replicated it at home I swapped out the cream with cashew cream 1:1 and I found it lighter but still silky and delicious, just to my taste!

For anyone who’s interested, here’s the recipe:

2 cans diced tomatoes (I love Muir Glen Organic Petite Diced)
1 large onion, diced
Several cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
Salt & Pepper
1 cup vodka
1 cup cashew cream (.5 c raw cashews blended on high with roughly .5 c water, or enough to get a heavy cream consistency)

Saute onions in olive oil in a large pan, adding garlic, shallots, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper when the onions are mostly translucent. Use vodka to deglaze the pan of any scrummy bits. Add diced tomatoes and let simmer gently for 1 hr, stirring occasionally (I know! It takes forever, but it’s worth it!). Once the hour is up the diced tomatoes will be thick. If they get a bit too dry add a splash of pasta water. Finally, blend up the cashew cream and stir everything together, toss over drained pasta. Perfection :)

If you have membership at your local library you could try taking it out for a peek before buying! Happy cooking/ reading! :)

I’m reading a sample on Libby right now that covers some of this!

I also came here to toast the talents of Marcella! Her Bolognese is complete perfection and my favorite thing to have bubbling away on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Should anyone else be *very* into her Bolognese, we sometimes swap in a red onion instead of white, for extra bite, and I also add in finely chopped mushrooms at the meat stage. Both are delicious additions (not that this recipe needs any :)

A roasted red pepper, pureed until smooth?

Have you ever tried yellow tomatoes instead? That weirdly works for someone I know with a tomato allergy. Otherwise I always used tomatillo’s as a sub. If you can’t find them fresh – but even Safeway has them where I live in the PNW then you can always find them in the salsa isle or in jarred salsa verde.

YES! I noticed this too and it made me smile as I looked down at my own cracked polish. Many of live with chipped nails longer than we do with perfect nails! <3

Hah – I am the opposite. Grooming is an important part of self-love and showing that you respect others by giving them your best. Poor nail care has always bothered me since childhood though so I’ve always had strong feelings about it. Particularly if it’s going to be 1, anything to do with food and 2, on display for millions of people.

My gosh, it really seems like adding to the burden of impossible standards of beauty for women if having a perfect manicure at all times is interpreted as a sign of respect for others. Really sitting with this comment and trying to understand why it’s gotten under my skin! Probably because I think the way I treat others with kindness is more important than my lack of interest in having painted nails. As usual, thanks for the perspective, ladies!

Rigid definitions of “grooming” also contribute to classist and racist hierarchies (see: workplace policies banning certain protective hairstyles common in Black cultures). It’s fine to have personal preferences for your own body, but it may be a stretch to say other people’s alternative choices are a mark of disrespect.

I have literally zero opinions about nails. But I am happy for you, Kristina, and I am sure you are lovely.
And Reeve, what a weird and judgy thing to say. It is not that deep, she is just cooking at home for herself, she is not making food in a restaurant sans gloves.