I’m a sucker for vodka sauce. I find that vodka sauce has a more mellow, rounded flavor than marinara sauce. In my experience, vodka sauce is pale pink in color and chock full of flavor. I know that you can buy it in the store in a jar, but what fun is that? This recipe is relatively straightforward and will result in a sauce that is light tasting with a subtle sweetness that just pairs perfectly with the veal and beef in the ragout.
The idea to make the vodka sauce came to me while in the grocery store (which is where almost all my recipes are hatched), but there was one problem: I’ve never made a vodka sauce before. Seems like the story of my blogging career. So, I headed over to the jarred pasta sauce aisle and started reading the ingredient labels of all the vodka sauces they had. You will know I was there because all the jars are rotated ingredient side out. It seemed simple enough- tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, garlic, spices and vodka. I decided that I would pick up a red pepper as well and some veal and beef to make more of a hearty ragout than just a sauce.
To build some depth into the sauce, I used some anchovy paste. Some of you might be reading this thinking that it sounds gross, but it is a great way to build flavor into a dish and add a salt component. Believe me, you’ll never taste the anchovies- they are just working in the background to help out the dish. Buy the paste in a tube- it’ll last just about forever in the fridge.
We served this meal with some of my fresh French Bread with some black truffle butter slathered on top. That’s just naughty.
Makes enough sauce and pasta for 8 people.
Ingredients:
2 lbs pasta (I picked up these huge elbows that looked as though they would hold the sauce well)
1 red pepper
1 Spanish onion, peeled and small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb 85/15 ground beef
1 lb ground veal
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup vodka
2 cans whole, peeled tomatoes in puree (28 ounce)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon anchovy paste
1 heaping teaspoon of dried oregano
1 heaping teaspoon of dried basil
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper
So to get ready for this recipe, let’s simply get everything together first. Get out a big stock pot and fill it with water. Set it on the stove so it is ready to go. Open the cans of tomato sauce and paste. Dice and mince the onion and garlic. Turn on a burner (if they are gas) and place the red pepper right on the burner. It’s ok if the skin gets black. If you don’t have a gas burner, you can use a torch or roast the pepper in an oven at 425 for about 20 minutes. When the skin is blistered or blackened, place it in a paper bag, close the top and set aside.
This pepper just started getting charred. Use tongs to rotate around the flame. Photo by Scott Groth
Take out a large sauce pan and put it over medium high heat. Add in a tablespoon of oil and when the oil is hot, add in the onion and a pinch of kosher salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for about six to seven minutes. We want to sweat the onion, not brown it. Toss in the garlic and cook for another two minutes, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn. Using a silicon spatula to get all the stragglers, remove the onion and garlic from the pan and put into a bowl. Set aside.
Heat the pan again and add in one tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil. When the butter is melted and the oil is hot, add in half of the beef. Let it brown a little and then add in the second half. If you add it all in at once, the pan will lose too much heat and your meat will turn gray. Cook the meat until it is done and place it in a separate bowl from the onions and garlic. Repeat this process with the veal, adding it to the bowl with the cooked beef. Set aside.
Return the pan to the burner and bring it back up to temperature. We are going to deglaze the pan with the vodka, so make sure that you are not pouring right out of the bottle. Put it in a measuring cup. When the pan is hot, for safety sake, turn off the burner. Pour in the vodka and then turn the burner back on. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the vodka simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
Tomatoes, pastes and spices just added- see how thin the sauce starts off. Photo by Scott Groth
Carefully pour in the cans of whole tomatoes. Stir to incorporate. Next, add in the tomato paste and anchovy paste. Stir to incorporate. Add in all the dried herbs, stirring. Lastly, add in the cooked onions and garlic. This needs to simmer for about 30 minutes. Please note: we did not add in the cooked meat here- we are going to process the sauce in a blender.
While the sauce is simmering, let’s take the pepper out of the bag. Using a spoon or the backside of a knife, remove the charred skins. Carefully open the pepper and remove the seeds and stem. Cut the pepper in half, keeping one half out to use in the sauce and one half can be refrigerated for some other use. Place the half pepper we will be using into the blender.
The tomatoes are broken down and the sauce has thickened. This is ready to blend. Photo by Scott Groth
As the sauce simmers, you can start to break down the tomatoes a little bit. We want to reduce the sauce to a nice consistency before we blend it. When you have about 15 minutes left before the sauce is done, cover the stock pot and turn the heat to high. Bring the water to a boil. Once the sauce is ready to be blended, heavily salt the water for the pasta and add in the pasta you have purchased.
So the pasta is cooking away and you are going to carefully spoon the vodka sauce into the blender. Please note that I have removed the center of the blender lid and have a paper towel over the hole. When you blend hot liquid, it creates steam which will pop off the lid if it is not vented properly! If your blender isn’t big enough and you have to work in batches, that’s ok. Blend the sauce on high- it will turn from a deep red to a light pink in the blender- check out the picture below. We have incorporated a ton of air into the sauce which has lightened the color. Pretty cool. When all the sauce has been blended, return it to the pan over low heat. Add in the cooked beef and veal and stir for a while to bring the temperature back up. Add in the grated Parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate.
Check out how different the top and bottom look. Incorporating air through blending changes the color drastically. Photo by Scott Groth
The pasta should be cooked- drain it into a colander- make sure to shake it around to get most of the moisture off. Toss it back in the pot and add in about a cup or two of the sauce. Mix around in the pot. This is an important step as the pasta will absorb a ton of flavor while it is sitting in the pot.
Take out a bunch of bowls and portion out the pasta. Ladle a great big helping of the sauce over the top and garnish with some shaved Parmesan or Asiago and some chopped parsley. Serve with a side of crunchy bread and a nice Italian wine. That’s it. We’re ready to eat. Buon appetito! Salute!
Yumm. Chunky, meaty ragout with a rich vodka sauce and fresh bread. Delicious. Photo by Scott Groth