Pasta With Vodka Sauce

This popped up on my news feed and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I had to make it.  A few weeks ago I ordered this in as a meal kit from a local Italian gourmet deli.  They used penne.  I'm using rigatoni.  Tonight I will compare it to mine.  What I used:

• 3 tablespoons  unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Fresh cracked pepper, for serving
• 1 can (156 ml) organic low-sodium tomato paste
• 398 ml can organic low-sodium Italian whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 lb rigatoni
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 2/3 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
• Fresh parsley, chopped finely for garnish

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are very soft but not browned, about 15 minutes.

Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until tomato paste is fragrant and thick, about 3 minutes. Stir in canned tomatoes with their liquid. Bring to a simmer, then cook, stirring often and crushing the whole tomatoes roughly with a wooden spoon, until sauce has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.  Add cream.

Use immersion blender till sauce is very smooth. Season with salt.

In a Dutch oven of salted boiling water, cook pasta until about 3 minutes less than the package directs. About 1 minute before you transfer sauce to pasta, add vodka to tomato sauce and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.  Drain pasta reserving 1 cup water.  Pour in a 1/2 cup pasta water into the pot along with the pasta.  Add sauce.  Increase heat to high, and cook, stirring constantly, until pasta is well coated in sauce and reaches the al dente stage, about 3 minutes. If sauce thickens too much before pasta is ready, add more pasta water as needed.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese until thoroughly incorporated into a smooth and creamy sauce. Taste seasoning for salt.

Serve immediately garnishing with parsley, fresh cracked pepper and more cheese as desired.

Well the verdict is that I loved mine a whole lot more than the delivery of it.  That being said it's because I had enough sauce tonight and they only gave a cheap amount which made it dry.  This was perfect-ioso.  That's my Italian spin on the word.  😉  The sauce filled the tubes and each bite was a pleasure.  So yummy and worth the carb coma.