Penne alla Vodka

This was my Meatless Monday meal for this week. I've really been dying to try making this for a while now. Found a great recipe from one of my favorite food bloggers The Pioneer Woman. She always had the best, easiest recipes to follow. This really took no time at all to make- and the result was fantastic. You can make this in under an hour- and its so worth it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound Penne pasta
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped finely 
•  3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3/4 cups vodka
• 1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Salt
•  pepper to taste
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Boil a pot of water and cook pasta according to the directions, do not over cook.

Heat the oil and butter in a skillet over medium/ high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes- until onions become translucent.

Pour in vodka, stir and cook for about 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce and stir.

Reduce heat to low and stir in the half and half. Simmer on low, do not over heat. Add in salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Drain the pasta and reserve some of the pasta water on the side incase the sauce thickens up to much- you can use it to thin it out some.

Add drained pasta to the sauce, toss to combine- add in the parm cheese.

Garnish with more parm cheese when you serve the pasta.

I served this lovely dish with a side salad- and yummy garlic knots. This is by far one of the best pasta sauces I've ever made. And I make a ton of sauce- and pasta. You need to give this a try if you're looking for an easy- out of the ordinary pasta dish to cook. You'll never even notice there is no meat involved. Cheers.

Adapted from: Pasta alla Vodka