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(upbeat music)
All right, so before we get into pasta alla vodka,
I wanted to take a look at the alla vodka of it all.
Namely, is this stuff doing anything for flavor?
So I started simmering some
until its fumes no longer burst into flames
when exposed to fire
indicating that the alcohol had cooked off
so I could see what zero proof vodka tastes like
and the best way I could describe it would be water
that at some point had been in the same room as a potato.
So if you cook off the alcohol,
this is doing little to nothing for flavor.
Some people say it's an emulsifier
which is totally unnecessary in a tomato sauce
and others say it's actually for the bite of the alcohol
which you should add at the very last minute
so it doesn't cook off so that's what I'm gonna do
in our first up factory standard, timeless, classic,
on the table in about 15 minutes pasta alla vodka.
First off, I've got a wide shallow pot
of heavily salted water that I'm gonna bring to the boil
set next to my very largest fry pan.
About the only prep we need to do
is finely dice half an average sized onion,
peel a couple cloves of garlic and that's it.
We're headed back over the stove top
where we're heating two tablespoons
of extra virgin olive oil in our large saute pan
and starting to cook our pasta already.
That's how fast this dish is gonna come together.
Once the oil is shimmering, we're adding the onion
and cooking for three to four minutes until translucent
then we're crushing in our two cloves of garlic
and letting that saute for about 30 seconds
or until fragrant
then we're adding about a half teaspoon
of crushed red pepper flakes
and three ounces or a little more than a third of a cup
of tomato paste, cooking that for about two minutes
until the tomato paste starts to darken in color
then we're bringing down the heat a little bit
and adding three ounces of heavy cream
and one ounce of the titular vodka,
just stirring that together
and allowing it to cook for no more than a minute
so that the booze doesn't cook off
and once your pasta is about a minute shy
of your preferred level of doneness,
it's headed straight into the saute pan
where it's gonna finish cooking in the sauce.
Adjust the heat as necessary
so that it's not simmering like crazy
and then a quarter cup at a time,
we're gonna start adding our reserved pasta cooking water.
This is gonna make the sauce smooth and glossy
as we continue to cook it for no more than another minute
then if you be so bold
and if you're wearing clothes that you don't care about,
you can optionally toss your sauce
to make it lighter and creamier
at the expense of your kitchen's cleanliness.
Now, we're gonna kill the heat
and immediately add one ounce of freshly grated Parmesan.
If you need a visual reference, one ounce equates
to a roughly one inch square cube of cheese.
Stir this stuff in definitely off the heat,
maybe give it another toss
and you can adjust the thickness of the sauce
with pasta water if necessary and that's all there is to it.
15 minutes might be too generous amount of time.
Plate it up,
maybe with a little bit of extra Parmesan grated overtop
and you got yourself a big old bowl of creamy,
comforting, craveable goodness.
There might be nothing better in the world
that you can can do with 10 minutes and 10 ingredients.
In fact, there's not much of an argument that can be made
for a more complex version.
Let's take this from mm, that's good
to a wordless, breathless table full
of compulsory eye rolls and lip smacks.
There are some fun ways
in which we can layer and complexify the flavors.
First, in a wide shallow pan,
I'm heating about a quarter cup of neutral flavored oil
over medium high until shimmering
and then adding four ounces of diced pancetta
which I'm gonna fry until lightly browned and crisp,
about three to five minutes,
draining on paper towels and reserving the oil
leaving me not only with a crunchy,
meaty garnish for later on
but some deeply flavored oil and fond
in which I can build a sauce.
In about a quarter cup of the reserved fat,
I'm sauteing the same finely diced half onion,
about three to four minutes until soft and translucent,
crushing the same two cloves of garlic
and this time, for heat,
I'm gonna use two teaspoons of crushed Calabrian chilies
and instead of just tomato paste,
I'm gonna use three tablespoons of sun-dried tomato paste,
both of which are gonna bring a wider array of flavors
to the party.
Let those guys get some heat for about 30 seconds
and then we're gonna add eight ounces of tomato puree
and because we want the tomato flavor to be cooked down
and concentrated like that of tomato paste,
we're gonna send this for about 30 to 45 minutes
until we've made our own sort of homemade
much more flavorful and complex, less harsh tomato paste.
Then from there, it's pretty much business as usual,
get your pasta cooking,
add your one ounce of vodka and three ounces of heavy cream
when it's very nearly almost done.
Give it a stir and start adding your pasta.
This time, I went with mezzi rigatoni so it looks fancier.
I don't know but whatever pasta you wanna use,
you generally wanna go with something ridged
so that it hangs onto the sauce.
As before, we are glossifying
and adjusting our sauce's consistency with pasta water
then this time, I'm adding a half ounce each
of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano.
Don't be afraid to continue adjusting with pasta water
if things get too gloopy.
Plate it up,
this time with our reserved crispy pancetta bits,
bunch more cheese, I mean, obviously,
and an optional smattering of fresh herbs, basil or parsley.
And there you have it, my ultimate alla vodka sauce.
Rich, creamy and positively loaded
with layers and layers of flavor
but is it worth the additional time and effort?
Yeah, if you've got the time,
this is a noticeable improvement
over the already amazing original
but you could also utilize any part of it that you like,
the pancetta, the different cheeses,
the sun-dried tomato paste, the fancier pasta shape.
You might say that the pastabilities are endless.
Sorry.
Thanks again to Viator for sponsoring this episode.
The pro tip is to use Viator for booking your activities
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There's something for everyone.
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There's even experiences right here in New York
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(calm music)