Puttanesca a la Vodka
The Nitty Gritty:
Just enough bite to be ... intriguing- Level: 1
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Yields: 6 servings
- Tags: pasta
This sauce comes from an effort to hybridize a traditional vodka sauce with a few elements of puttanesca. Classic puttanesca is not for the faint of heart. After all, it not-so-delicately translates to “pasta the way a whore would make it,” and is indeed racy. It packs a spicy punch with anchovies, garlic, olives, peppers, and capers — the idea is to create as much flavor in as little time as possible. You can fill in the blanks for yourself.
Such was not my aim here. I wanted to capture the essence of puttanesca without the quick-and-dirty throw-together technique.
The result of said experimentation got rave reviews from my test kitchen audience. While not a true puttanesca, the sauce has just enough of a “slutty” bite to be interesting. Intriguing, even.
Ingredients:
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 10 large fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (thinly sliced)
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 8 small tomatoes, preferably vine-ripened, peeled and diced
- 1 cup vodka
- 1 cup chicken stock
- kosher salt
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp. capers
- 6 ounces fresh mozarella, diced
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Instructions:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and the butter in a large saute pan. Saute the shallots until just soft; add garlic and saute for an additional 30 seconds, being careful not to burn it.
Add vodka and simmer to reduce by half.
Add chicken stock, tomatoes, capers and pepper. Simmer while pasta cooks (about 10 minutes).
Season to taste. When ready to serve, add 1/2 cup cream and stir. (The sauce should be a light pink, but not too light. Add the last 1/4 cup if necessary.) Add basil and mozzarella, then spoon over pasta. Serve immediately and top with freshly grated Parmesan.
Comments
By Lauren McNally
Lauren B. McNally is a New York City-based writer who spends her days on Madison Avenue and her evenings in Spain, France, Italy, South America, and beyond. She originally hails from Maine and graduated from Bowdoin College, spending time abroad at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Lauren passed The Court of Master Sommeliers’ Level I exam in August and will sit for her Certified Sommelier Exam in early 2010.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
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Alex
December 3 6:39 a.m. 1This is great.
I did get a few raised eyebrows as I poured a bottle of vodka into the pan, but the end-result is sublime. One of the tastiest pasta sauces I've ever had, to be honest. Thanks Lauren!
Lauren
December 4 3:38 p.m. 2Thank you so much for the compliments, Alex. People tend to raise eyebrows over anything that is seemingly unorthodox in the food world, but that's usually the best stuff out there. :)
Next time, let your doubters know that vodka tends to enhance the flavor of whatever it's put into, thus taking a simple combo of shallots/garlic/tomatoes and giving it a wow factor.