Vodka Sauce is Deliciousness
What to do with leftover sausage? I immediately thought about an Italian pasta dish and I've been craving Vodka Sauce, so I went with that!
I didn't start entirely from scratch. I built the sauce off of a 28oz can of Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara Sauce that I had on hand. In order to amp up the flavor, I did the following.
1. Chopped up 1 large yellow onion and sauteed it until translucent in olive oil and butter. I added two minced cloves of garlic to this as well.
2. After this was done (about 5 minutes), I added 1/4 cup of vodka. I let that simmer for 5 more minutes.
3. I added the marinara sauce as well as a generous helping of dried herbs (I used basil, rosemary and parsley, but whatever you like and have on hand is fine). I let this simmer for about 15 minutes more minutes.
4. I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I let this simmer for about 15 more minutes (there is A LOT of simmering happening!)
This photo is after Steps 1-4 were complete
I had some gemelli pasta on hand, so I boiled that until al dente.
Naked Pasta - don't look!
In a separate pan, I cooked up the sweet Italian sausage I had left over from when I made Sausage & Peppers.
Yum!
Once everything was combined, I had a beautiful masterpiece!
Everybody is so happy together!
This was an excellent "recipe" - sometimes I do cook without using really strict directions and it works out really well!
Oh, you said you wanted a close up? You got it!
Look at that deliciousness!
I portioned out the remaining sauce into different containers and froze it for dinner another night! I typically don't love leftovers, but I can get behind this delicious sauce.
Cheers!
Liz