Recipe: Quick and easy tomato vodka sauce

There was a confluence of events that led to Joe and I throwing caution to the wind and having an all out carb and cheese fest this weekend. For one thing, the weather here was cold, misty, and all around blah. Lucy had a little too much fun running around the house last week and managed to hurt one of her sweet paws. Don’t worry, she’s okay now, but we kept her off of it all weekend, which meant camping out on the couch and watching too many re-runs of How I Met Your Mother and lots of movies. And because of said movies, I ended up watching part of The Holiday, which always puts me in the mood for a little Christmas fettucine.

Fettucine we did not have, but we did have a box of pappardelle, and a jar of tomato sauce. Instead of slopping some plain jane sauce on the noodles, I decided to jazz it up and make a quick, simple vodka sauce. I love ‘fake out’ cooking like this — recipes that are so easy to put together, but that you could easily serve to company, or mix and match with other items to feel even more special. This sauce was delish on our pappardelle, but would also be great on gnocchi, in lasagna, even poured all over pieces of chicken and baked with extra cheese on top. The best part? You could make this on a weeknight no problem, because it’ll only take you 20-30 minutes start to finish. Enjoy it (and get the recipe here)!

23 Comments

  1. 12.17.12

    This looks so yummy, I think I need to come up with a Paleo friendly version ASAP!

    xo, Kenzie

    http://www.CaveGirlintheCity.com

  2. 12.17.12

    my absolute favorite!

  3. 12.17.12

    Huge fan of vodka sauce! This looks so good!!!

  4. 12.17.12

    Make this regularly with penne pasta and mushrooms! Yum!

  5. 12.17.12

    That looks delicious, and like something I could actually pull off!

  6. 12.17.12

    Yum!!!

  7. 12.17.12

    Ah victoria this looks delicious, i love vodka sauce!

  8. 12.17.12

    Yum. We’ve been carbing it up because of the weather too. Lots of polenta and bolognese, which I highly recommend on a rainy day like today!

  9. 12.17.12
    lexi said:

    Just wound up watching The Holiday last night. I think I’ve seen it fifty times! And I love easy pasta dishes. I’m a carb-addict. #sobad
    Lexi @ Glitter, Inc.

  10. 12.17.12
    Ruthie said:

    wow! This looks delicious, I can’t wait to try it. My two favorite things pasta & vodka :) (I’m joking, kinda of)

  11. 12.17.12

    nomnomnom. WHY can’t i live closer to you??? :)

  12. 12.17.12
    Kory said:

    This looks amazing! Vodka sauce is my absolutely favorite, and this totally looks easy enough that even I could make it.

  13. 12.17.12

    Delish! I never think to make this. It always seems so exotic!

    I love The Holiday… so much eye candy…

  14. 12.17.12
    the NOW said:

    This looks Deeeee- licious!!! xoxo

  15. 12.17.12

    I love “The Holiday” and I have spent many a night watching “How I Met Your Mother” episodes back to back ….. too funny!!

  16. 12.17.12

    LOVE vodka sauce, especially with crushed red pepper flakes! I once made it without, and it just wasn’t nearly as good.

  17. 12.17.12

    It’s like you read my mind! Vodka sauce is my favorite when it comes to pasta. Just pinned this recipe to my Pinterest board dedicated to food :)

    katiesbliss.com

  18. 12.18.12
    Patti said:

    vodka penne or anything with a tomato vodka sauce is my fave, but I have never actually made it myself. I am gonna give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

  19. 12.18.12

    This looks SO good. Just emailed it to my sister to tell her we must make this over the holidays!

  20. 12.20.12
    Becca said:

    Wow! This looks delicious!

  21. 7.4.13
    Danielle said:

    Made this sauce tonight and it was delicious! I combined the sauce with another recipe for sausage and penne. In addition to the sausage I added a package of sauteed spinach – the pasta was amazing!!! Since I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, I used onion instead of shallot and replaced the heavy cream with about 1/2 cup of half and half. I also had to use dried basil as I was out of fresh. I cannot WAIT to make this again. Great for a quick weeknight meal or company!

  22. 12.13.14
    Wendy said:

    I made this for dinner tonight and it was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever made! And so easy. I will be making it again and again. Thank you for sharing.

    • 12.15.14

      Aww, Wendy, that makes me so happy! I’m so, so glad you enjoyed it. Cheers!

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