Spicy Vodka Linguine
Ingredients:
- 1 lb linguine pasta
- 1 lb Italian sausage (hot, mild, pork, chicken, or turkey) whatever you like best. Also great with shrimp or meatless
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 shallots chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 11 oz bottle of Agromonte’s cherry tomato with hot pepper sauce
- 4 oz grape tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream or half and half
- 1 cup manchego cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water
- 1 tbsp fresh basil *
- 1/2 tbsp fresh oregano *
- pinch of sugar
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- Start by browning the sausage of your choice in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove and set aside.
- Add the butter, oil, and chopped shallots to the pan. Sauté until translucent. Then add the chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add the tomato paste and stir until it darkens in color slightly (about a minute).
- Carefully add the vodka, mix it around the pan getting all the browned bits up from the sausage. Stir for a minute or two so that the alcohol is cooked off.
- Add in the spicy tomato sauce and grape tomatoes and stir. If there’s sauce still stuck in the bottle just add a little water to get it out. Let the sauce cook for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.
- In a large measuring cup pour in your cream, then add some of the hot tomato sauce to the cup 1 tbsp at a time stirring carefully. This will bring the cream up to the temperature of the sauce and prevent it from curdling. Once warm, add the cream mixture to the sauce, stirring carefully to combine.
- Slowly sprinkle in the manchego cheese and stir until melted.
- Add in the salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and sugar. Turn the heat down to a simmer and stir occasionally for 10 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers cook the linguine according to the package directions for al dente.
- Before draining the pasta reserve some of the water and add it to the sauce.
- At this point add in the spinach and cooked sausage to the sauce. Once the spinach has wilted add in the cooked linguine, and toss until it’s completely coated.
- Serve hot with a glass of red wine and a salad.
*If using dry seasonings add them to the pan before the butter and oil. This will waken them up and bring out the flavor during the cooking process.