V is for vodka

Apologies for the break in service there - I've just been in Copenhagen for a few days. But more of that post-MoFo. In the meantime, regular service is being resumed - I'm back to testing out a whole alphabet of new ingredients and recipes (and catching up on all the blogs I've missed while I've been away - expect a commenting frenzy this evening!)

Today, I'm up to V. And today, v means vodka.

And vodka means penne alla vodka!

Let me come clean - I've never eaten penne alla vodka in my life. That said, I do very much like the idea of adding that most functional of alcohols to my dinner, so thought I'd have a crack at making my own.

I've not idea if it's anything like how penne all vodka should taste, but I guess most things turn out good if you drench them in booze and cheezy goodness.

(Note: this recipe kind of relies on you having a truckload of cashew queso to hand. If you don't, then I guess you can just go crazy with the dairy substitute of your choice.)

Penne alla vodka - serves three to four

Ingredients

One medium onion, finely chopped

One celery rib, finely chopped

One red chilli, chopped

Three cloves of garlic, finely sliced

One red pepper, diced

100mls of vodka

One tablespoon of tomato puree

One tin of chopped tomatoes

One bay leaf

Pinch of sugar

250mls of cashew cheese queso

350g of penne (or something similar)

How you do it

Put some oil in a pan, and add onion and celery. Fry til soft and golden.

While the onion and celery is frying, put the chilli, garlic and red pepper in a food processor and blend to a puree.

Once the onion and celery is cooked, add the chilli, garlic and pepper and cook over medium for five minutes.

Then add the vodka, tomato puree, bay leaf, sugar and tinned tomatoes, then turn the heat up and leave to cook off for 20 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking down, boil the pasta in hot, salted water until cooked.

Add the cashew queso to the sauce and stir to mix. 

Remove the bay leaf from the sauce, and mix with the pasta. 

Cover generously with black pepper.