I’ve never made a vodka sauce before, but this was easily the best homemade sauce I have ever made. I found a bunch of recipes online. Some asked for one cup of vodka, others called for only 2 tbsp (!?!). Very few used spinach, but that was a key ingredient of mine.  So, without a clear recipe I ended up combining elements of  to create this amazing sauce. I served it with lobster ravioli, but it would also be an amazing vegetarian dish if you substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Here’s what I did (the recipe is behind the cut):

Spinach Vodka Sauce

• 1 shallot, diced fine
• 1/2 small onion, diced fine
• 4 cloves garlic, diced fine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4–6 cubes Dorot frozen basil (get it at Trader Joes in the freezer section)
• 1 cup chicken stock (I’ve been singing the praises of Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock from Costco lately)
• 1 can (28 oz) chopped or crushed tomatoes
• 1 large bunch spinach leaves (or a bag of baby spinach). Leave baby spinach leaves as they are, but cut large leaves down.
• Splash of half & half (what I had on hand) or heavy cream
• 2–4 tbsp fresh grated asiago, parmesan or romano cheese
• Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste
• 1 cup plus 1 splash vodka (we used whatever we used to refill our Crystal Head Vodka bottle; a Russian vodka in a less awesome bottle, I thnk… but I digress)

Heat your oil and butter in a large skillet or saucepan. Add the garlic, onions, shallots and basil and sauté for about 5 minutes or so. Add 1 cup of vodka (keep the bottle around for a splash later) and reduce by about half. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes (with juice). When it starts bubbling, reduce the heat. Taste often and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.

After the mixture reduces and starts to become thick and saucy, add the cheese, fine-tune the flavors and add the splash of vodka. Reduce a bit more, then add the spinach until wilted. Before you serve it, add a splash of cream to taste. I like a little, but you can use up to 1/2 cup or more if you want it creamier. The little bit of creaminess will help it stick to your pasta. Taste again and adjust seasonings as necessary before serving.

Serve over pasta and garnish with some freshly grated cheese.

CONFESSION: I buy too many vegetables. Like way too many. Way more than we can eat, and we eat a lot of produce. Oh, I have good intentions, and yet it’s embarrassing how much veg we throw away. This is an especially bad problem when I’m cooking for the week and I know all the remaining veggies are likely just going to end up in the trash.

Also, when I cook for the week I occasionally get tired of the same ingredients. This particular week I had eggplant leftover from my stir-fry, and carrots, spinach and peppers left in the fridge, and I simply wasn’t in the mood for a chunky pasta sauce. But then I had a stroke of genius. (Okay, it wasn’t that great, but still…)

I puréed all of them. I sautéed all of the veggies I had leftover from the week with olive oil, two cubes of Dorot Frozen Basil from Trader Joe’s (oh, how I love the stuff). I then took my beautiful Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender and puréed it all right in the pot. I added the jarred spaghetti sauce and voilá!! The flavor was unbelievable.

I ended up with half a bag of mostaccioli and half a bag of bowties, so I made that and served it up with some Veal Parmigiana (have a looksee for my easy recipe). Absolutely dynamite, and a great new way to both add extra veggies to my menu and to use up leftovers. Brilliant!!

Inspiration hit tonight and boy was it a good one. I present to you a new favorite. The flavor was complex and intense, sharp and sweet. It was kind of the perfect meal, and if I had a restaurant this would so be on the menu.

Since I don’t have a restaurant, I present to you my recipe.

Red Pepper Pesto

• 1 jarred roasted red pepper (I got the jar with two whole peppers for 99¢ on sale and am now kind of sad I only bought two jars!)
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in 1/4 cup olive oil until soft
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• Handful of fresh basil
• 1 large clove garlic
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until puréed. Cook on low for about 15-20 minutes in a saucepan until some of the moisture is cooked away. Toss with pasta and goat cheese. This was outstanding with some previously frozen cheese ravioli.

This was one of the tastiest things I’ve made in a really long time. I can’t remember where I found the picture I saw online that inspired me to create this, but the recipe is my own and completely improvised, so hopefully my measurements are about right.

Since there are now three of us in the house packing lunches for the workday, I decided to make a quick skillet sauce and some pasta specifically for leftovers. It’s a super easy recipe that takes only about half an hour, makes a lot of food and is also nice and light. I had gotten a couple coupons for Bertolli Premium Sauces in a pouch that made it only about $1.25 for the sauce, so I used their Sundried Tomato & Black Olive sauce, which may be a new favorite. It’s not too salty like some prepared sauces and it tastes really fresh and flavorful. I’ve also made this with canned tomatoes and a jar of a favorite spaghetti sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Chicken Breast, chunked
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped or pressed
• Olive Oil
• Vegetables!! Anything works, really. I’ve used spinach, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, etc. but today I had some leftover mushrooms, half a green pepper and half a red pepper.
• Herbs and black pepper to taste (salt if you like, but the sauce is plenty salty)
• 1 pouch or jar of your favorite spaghetti, pesto, or alfredo sauce.

Sauté onion, garlic and peppers in the olive oil until the onions become translucent. Add chicken and cook until almost cooked through, stirring often. If using mushrooms or frozen veggies, wait until now to add them. Sauté until everything is cooked through, then add the sauce. Stir it all and cook down for about 10 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta!

The recipe is pretty much my own, pieced together from a number of sources.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil

Sauté the onion and garlic in a hearty splash of olive oil until onion gets clear. Add to this:

• 1 package baby bella mushrooms, quartered

Keep sautéing until the mushrooms look cooked through. Add to this:

• 6 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped

I used 4 yellow tomatoes and 2 orange tomatoes because that’s what I happened to have available. Roma tomatoes would work great too, I’m sure.

• 8 oz of beef stock; I swear by Kitchen Basics brand stocks in cartons. They’re much less salty and more flavorful than Swanson or canned broths.

• 1/2 cup red wine; Today I used a bottle of Beringer Founder’s Estate Old Vines Zinfandel, 2005 that someone generously brought us at a dinner party and we weren’t able to use at the time. This might be my new red cooking wine; it was great to drink AND for flavoring the sauce.

• Salt, pepper and Italian herbs to taste.

Simmer this for about half an hour, until the liquid is cooked down. Serve over pasta (as I did), polenta (as I planned) with some yummy steaks. This sauce is so hearty, it would be fine on its own, too.

Tonight I made my first homemade alfredo sauce. I’m struggling with it because while the flavor was just about perfect, the consistency was only good when it was piping hot. As it cooled, it got to be the consistency of a nice buttercream frosting. Not quite right, obviously. It was definitely worth the effort and I’ll definitely be making it again, but I’m hesitant to post a recipe that’s just not right.

The trick will be adding more milk while keeping the flavor strong. It was also my first time trying Aldi’s Fit & Active Whole Wheat Pasta, and I have to say it was a big win. YUM!

Leftover sauce was mixed with some frozen spinach, which ended up lightening the sauce quite a bit.