Pasta alla Vodka

I can remember my mother calling me from the liquor store one morning while I was in college, talking about how she was going to make Pasta alla Vodka for dinner and she was stumped over what type of vodka to buy for the sauce. I gave her a few recommendations, and later that night when I came home for dinner, I realized she had bought the cheapest, worst type of vodka man could purchase: Kamchatka vodka. It was the kind college freshman would call "easy, cheap and quick," and at $5.99 a bottle, you really couldn't beat the price, but you paid for it the next morning with a wicked hangover.

I was surprised, however, that it made a fine addition to the Pasta alla Vodka recipe that night; and no worries, this sauce won't give you a hangover. ;)

Pasta alla Vodka

2T olive oil
4 oz. thick, slab style bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp*
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t crushed red pepper flakes**
1 - 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/4-1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
1/3 cup vodka
1 - 8 oz. pkg. mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped***
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 -1lb. pkg. rigatoni or other tube-shaped pasta, cooked al dente.

1. Add olive oil and bacon to a large sauce pan and warm over medium heat, Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes and cook one minute, taking care not to brown garlic.
2. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to saucepan. Cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced to 2 cups. Add vodka and continue cooking for 2 more minutes.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in mascarpone cheese and bacon until well combined. Add fresh basil and remove from heat.
4. Toss sauce with pasta and serve with parmesan cheese.

* Bacon may be omitted for a vegetarian sauce.
** Additional crushed red pepper flakes may be added for a spicier sauce.
*** If fresh basil isn't available, omit, because dried basil will not taste the same in this dish.

Pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes

The first time I realized how simple it was to make pesto from scratch, was a year and a half ago. I was a junior in college, babysitting a family with three children. The girl, who was ten years old, opened the freezer one night to make dinner and revealed to me her parent's stash of frozen pesto. When I say stash, I mean there were tons of jars full of the frozen green sauce. I have to admit, I was pretty embarrassed when she explained to me that all it really took was basil, olive oil, walnuts and cheese. I was mad I had gone over halfway through college without knowing this simple and cheap recipe!

Pesto Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

- 2 cups packed fresh basil

- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

- 3 cloves garlic, chopped

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

- 3 cups of penne pasta, cooked al dente

- salt and pepper to taste

Combine basil, cheese, garlic, olive oil, and walnuts in a food processor (I used my trusty Magic Bullet) and blend. While pasta is cooking, heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and sauté tomatoes. After pasta is done, add to pan and toss in pesto sauce. Serve immediately.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp over Linguine

In D.C., the drinks are expensive, but the seafood is cheap.

I never really expected to buy as much shrimp as I did when I was there, but because it was so cheap it became a staple in at least one meal a week. I didn't have a recipe to go off of when I decided I wanted to cook what I'd bought one night, so I essentially made this dinner up with what I had in my fridge. Luckily for me, it turned out to be the closest thing to restaurant quality I think I've yet to make... the trick: lots and lots of garlic!

Lemon Garlic Shrimp over Linguine (makes enough for two)

- 10 frozen (or fresh) shrimps

- 1/2 box of linguine pasta

- 1/4 t pepper

- 1/4 t salt

- 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup olive oil (separated)

- 1 med. tomato, sliced into small chunks

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook linguine.

Thaw shrimp and toss them in a bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper (the marinade). Meanwhile, heat the rest of the olive oil in a skillet and saute garlic and tomatoes. Add shrimp plus the marinade and cook until complete (about 15 minutes, shrimp will shrink up a bit). 

Save 1/2 cup water from boiling the noodles and pour in skillet, making for more sauce. Pour sauce and shrimp over your pasta and enjoy. 

I added a bit more olive oil to my pasta before pouring the shrimp and sauce over it.

Fettucini Alfredo from Scratch

For those of you gasping over the fact that I made Fettuccine Alfredo sauce from scratch, stop right there. It's the easiest sauce you could imagine... but also the most fattening. Two ingredients make up the sauce, two!  Unfortunately they are butter and heavy whipping cream. This probably isn't a surprise to a lot of people, but it really only takes these two ingredients (I always thought there was more to it!).  However, I added a few other things, and tossed it with chicken and broccoli. 

Fettuccine Alfredo from Scratch

- 1 lb. of fettuccine noodles

- 2 cups of fresh broccoli

- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 1/2 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

- 1 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)

- 6 T butter

- 1 t salt, 1 t pepper

Cook the fettucine in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until it is almost al dente. Add broccoli and cook with pasta for an extra five minutes. Drain in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until tender. Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Return the pasta to the pot it was cooked in, set over medium-high heat along with the reserved cooking liquid. Add the butter-cream mixture and half of the Parmesan and toss to combine thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and garnish with parsley, if desired. 

Serve immediately.

Healthy spaghetti with grape tomatoes & basil

Moving out of my apartment and back home until I find a full-time job meant a lot more than free rent. It meant full access to my mother's kitchen. Which is why I've been posting so many recipes lately. At school, the extent of my spices were garlic salt, Lawry's seasoning salt, cinnamon and oregano. I hated buying spices for one recipe, because it usually meant that I'd never use them again. So now that I'm home (hopefully not for too long!), I'm taking advantage of my mom's extensive spice collection. My parents have been so crazy-busy at work that I've taken to making dinners when I get home from my part-time job. So far, my dad and brother has hated everything I've made, but my mom seems to like them.

The other night, I practically picked all of the leaves off of her basil plant and paired it with a lot of garlic and fresh grape tomatoes. Atop linguine, it was the perfect Italian dinner, and didn't leave you feeling overstuffed from a heavy sauce.

Healthy spaghetti with grape tomatoes & basil (makes enough for 5-6)
- 1 box of spaghetti (I used linguine)
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped (I just threw them in a food processor)
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil (again, I just threw them in the processor...it saves a lot of time!)

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
• While pasta cooks, add olive oil to skillet on high heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden brown (do not burn). Add tomatoes, chopped basil, salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté about 4-5 minutes. When pasta is drained, add pasta to tomatoes and toss well. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Serve and top with grated cheese.

Revolutionary Mac & Cheese

Next to grilled cheese sandwiches, it's safe to say macaroni and cheese is my second favorite cheesy obsession. I've seen this recipe all over my Pinterest feed for months, and I finally gave it a try tonight. It's a pretty innovative concept, because you cook the noodles right in the milk.

The best part: less cleanup!

I altered the recipe a little from the original, because I thought it would need a little more taste than just melted cheddar cheese, but you're free to add whatever other seasonings you think would make it taste better.

Revolutionary Mac & Cheese

- 2 cups of dry pasta

- 2 1/2 cups skim milk

- 1 cup loosely packed shredded sharp cheddar cheese

- 1/4 cup chopped vidalia onion (make sure they're chopped very finely)

- 1 T Lawry's Seasoning Salt

- 1/4 t nutmeg

In a small saucepan, add pasta and milk.  Bring to simmer, then reduce heat to low-medium and cook for 15 minutes, until pasta is soft, stirring frequently to ensure milk does not boil. 

Turn heat off, add cheese, onions & salt & and stir to combine.  Stir in the nutmeg a little at a time, to taste. Cover and let stand for a couple of minutes, then stir again and serve. If not creamy enough, add milk a little at a time, and gently stir.

If you would like to bake it, place in a baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

Makes enough for 3.