Pasta Alla Vodka

Yield: 4-6 servings

• 2 lb early girl tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Handful of parsley, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ½ - ¾ cup vodka
• 1 lb fusilli, penne or rigatoni
• ½  cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ cup parmesan or pecorino, grated
• Chopped parsley or more torn basil

Step 1:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, drop in the tomatoes and let cook for 2 minutes. Fish the tomatoes out of the water and dip them into some ice water to stop the cooking. Turn off the pot of water but leave it on the stove. Set up a small strainer over a bowl. Cut the core out of the tomatoes and peel the skin off. Cut the tomatoes in half through the equator. Take one half of the tomato in your hand, use your fingers on the other hand to push out the seeds and juice from the little cavities of the tomato into the strainer over the bowl. You are straining out the seeds from the juice of the tomato. Then take the juice-less tomato half and cut it into 6 chunks. After pushing out the juice from all of the tomatoes, use a ladle or spoon to force the juice through the strainer, leaving the seeds behind. Throw away the seeds and reserved the chunks and the juice separately.

Step 2:

Heat a large, high sided skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the garlic, stirring constantly until the garlic is cooked, but not brown. Stir in the red pepper flakes and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, just a few seconds. Add the tomato chunks, but not the juice, and season with salt. Raise the heat to high and cook until the juice is thick and reduced, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomato juice and reduce another couple of minutes. Add the vodka and simmer for 1 minute, then add the cream and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat while you cook the pasta.

Step 3:

Turn the large pot of water back on high. When boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until 2 minutes shy of al dente.

Step 4:

Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the sauce, along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 cup of pasta water. Cook over medium-high, stirring vigorously, until the sauce glossily drapes the noodles, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cheese, the parsley and maybe more pasta water if it looks dry. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Step 5:

Divide the pasta among plates, sprinkle with chopped parsley or torn basil leaves, grate more cheese on top.