(Have you ever taken a photograph, later looked at it and thought “What the hell was I focusing on?” No? Well, screw you. This is one of those pictures for me. The dish actually looked gorgeous, all nice fresh green basil and pink sauce with bowties… Yeah. The picture doesn’t do it justice!)
This recipe is dear to my heart. Nothing like a good vodka sauce to warm your heart and tummy… even though the weather has been crazy lately, I’ve been craving it, and when the BF requested this last night, I obliged with the recipe that had been circling in my head for a few days…
3 slices of bacon, chopped
small onion, diced
15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes in puree (I looked for just tomato puree, but my ghetto market didn’t have)
dash of sugar
sprinkling of Italian seasoning
fresh ground black pepper
half and half, to taste
grated Pecorino Romano and/or Parmesan Reggiano
half pound of farfalle
In a medium skillet, heat bacon over low heat… once the fat starts to render off, add onion. Let soften.
In the meantime, cook farfalle to al dente.
When bacon is fully cooked, add can of crushed tomatoes and swirl, letting it come to a low bubble. Add Italian seasoning, sugar, and fresh ground black pepper. Add half and half, tasting along the way to make sure you get to the right pinkness. Thicken by adding cheese[s] (this is why I did not list salt as an ingredient, the cheeses should be salty enough to take care of that), then toss cooked farfalle into the sauce, coating.
I just plucked some basil from my plant, rolled it up and then sliced it into rillettes to toss on top, added a nice color contrast and a nice taste as well.
Enjoy, happy eating!!!
PS Full disclosure: the reason I didn’t add vodka is… well, why would I use a half cup of vodka I could drink instead?! What a waste! And this tastes just as good as, if not better, since good vodka is meant to be flavorless 😛
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