Last Night's Dinner: Ziti with Vodka Sauce

Another great recipe for pasta with vodka sauce. This time from Cristina's Tuscan Table a book I read about in the 2008 Food & Wine Best of the Best book. I adapted the sauce as I thought it had too much vodka, too much cream and a lot of pancetta. Just delicious. A big hit around here.

Ziti with Vodka Sauce

Sauce:

6-1/8” thick slices pancetta

1 small yellow onion, quartered

6 cups canned or fresh plum tomatoes, pureed

Pinch hot pepper flakes

2-3 tbsp vodka (Unflavored)*

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 lb ziti rigati pasta**

¾ cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated

In a food processor fitted with an S blade, finely mince pancetta and onion together. Transfer to a heavy sauté pan and cook over MED heat until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Add pureed tomatoes and red pepper flakes and simmer on LOW, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Add vodka and cook for another 10 minutes. Slowly add heavy cream and bring to a simmer.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook ziti rigati until al dente. Remove 1 cup of pasta water. Drain remaining water. Put ziti back into the sauce, and cook over HIGH heat for 2-3 minutes, adding a bit of the pasta water if necessary for a moist sauce. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Risa’s notes:

*original called for 1/2 cup which I felt was way too much

**original called for plain ziti. I thought the ridges in Rigati would hold the sauce better.

Yield: 6 servings

Source: adapted from Cristina’s Tuscan Table by Cristina Ceccatelli Cook (from Food & Wine Best of the Best 2008)

Posted by RisaG 3/1/12