Penne in Vodka

I felt the need for pasta this past week.  But I didn't want to have our usual standbys - regular tomato sauce or fettucine alfredo.  I longed for something different.  So I whipped out The Silver Spoon Pasta edition to find something.

Penne in Vodka

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. butter
1 slice cooked ham, thick, diced (I just used a package of pre diced fully cooked ham in the cold meat section of the grocery store)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. parsley
5 tbsp. heavy cream
3 tbsp. vodka
12 oz. penne
salt and pepper

Steps

1. Melt the butter in a pan, add the ham, tomato paste, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in cream and vodka and cook until the vodka has evaporated.
3. Cook the penne in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and tip into a warmed serving dish. Pour the sauce over the pasta.

The Finished Product:

I always used to think that this dish was difficult to make.  Probably because it involved alcohol.  But as I am slowly learning, there are a lot of great tasting dishes that don't require a lot of ingredients or a lot of work.  This one was really yummy and super quick.  What is nice is that this sauce is not overly creamy but allows just enough to cover the pasta and give it some great flavoring.  Definitely keeping it for future use.  Maybe next time I will make it with homemade penne.