Happy Italian-American Heritage Day! Not only is today the official celebratory day of being Italian-American, but all of October is Italian Heritage Month. Being half-Italian, I will share 3 new Italian recipes with you for the latter half of this month. Let’s kick things off with some delicious Sausage Vodka Sauce. Typically, vodka sauce doesn’t have meat and is served with penne. However, I like that sweet and savory foil against this delicious cream-based sauce. It goes together perfectly. I served it with some ridged paccheri and everyone was in heaven.
When you make any pasta dish, you should pull your pasta a minute or two before it is finished and cook it in a separate skillet with some of the sauce, and a little pasta water. This helps incorporate some of the sauce into the pasta itself and the starchy water helps thicken-up your sauce.
Mangia’s Vodka Sausage Sauce
½ onion, minced
½ lb ground sausage
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup vodka
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 sprig of fresh oregano
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pot, set over medium heat, and sauté the onion, with a pinch of salt, until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
Add in the sausage, breaking it up in your fingertips as you add it to the pot. Season with some kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Continue to cook the sausage and onion until the meat is no longer pink.
Add in the garlic, stirring constantly for about a minute. Then, add in the vodka and cook for another minute.
Add in the can of tomatoes, the oregano, and a pinch of salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the cream until incorporated. Then stir in the parsley and taste for any seasoning needs.
Serve with your favorite pasta, garnishing with some freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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