A triumphant return!

To all 3 or so of my faithful followers, I must apologize. I have neglected you. Although, in my defense, I wasn't completely slacking. It's just that the combination of pregnancy + love of food was making it impossible to ever get back into my closet full of cute clothes. So rather than sitting at my desk musing over delicious recipes I got back to my elliptical machine, resistance bands and kettlebells. I suppose it's not as bad as it sounds. The good news is that I can finally fit into my normal clothes! The bad news is that I'm going to be seen in public in a bathing suit in only a matter of days - and I still feel like the Pillsbury dough boy.

But enough about me and on to the food.

Most nights we cook fairly easy meals that require under 45 minutes of prep and cooking time combined. Every once in a while, though, something piques my interest enough that I devote a much bigger chunk of time.

This is one of those recipes.

It is based on a dish from the Barefoot Contessa (who is far and away my favorite from Food Network)...I've made it a few times now and each time the first bite gives me pause...it is soooo good!

Penne all Vodka (based on a recipe from Ina Garten)
Serves ~6

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 cup vodka
2 (28 oz) cans whole peeled plum tomatoes
1 pound penne pasta
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Shaved parmesan cheese

Preparation:

For this dish you need a large pot or deep saute pan that can be placed into the oven. I used my cast iron enamel dutch oven. To get things started, heat up the olive oil over medium heat, then toss in the onions and garlic. Cook this for 8 or so minutes until they become translucent but not browned. Then add in the crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano.

Open the canned tomatoes and drain the liquid.

While you're draining the tomatoes you add the cup of vodka to the onions and garlic. This needs to cook for a few more minutes or until the liquid is reduced by about half.

To add the tomatoes to the sauce, crush them first in your hands. Don't worry about the tomatoes being a completely even size as this whole thing goes for a spin in the blender later on.

Stick a lid on your pot and stick it into a 375 degree oven for an hour and a half. When it comes out, it'll look like this. Mmmmmmmm.

Allow the sauce to cool for about 15 minutes so it doesn't explode your blender top off, cover the ceiling in red goop and leave you cursing my name as you scrub it off. Once the sauce has cooled a bit, put it through the blender in batches until it has a smooth consistency. Put the blended sauce back into the pot.

As you're enjoying breaking out the poor blender from it's deep dark hiding place in the pack of one of your cupboards, get the pasta cooking in a big pot of salted boiling water. Once all of your now-blended sauce has made its way back to the pot, add in the cream, fresh oregano, salt and pepper (to taste), and simmer for 5-7 minutes until it's been properly reheated.

You can wait and sprinkle on the parm at the end as a garnish if you want to be all appropriate, but I vote for just dumping in a few ounces at the end and stirring it all together.

Oh and then garnishing with more at the end!

Do yourself a favor some weekend and make this. There's honestly not a lot of time you have to be an active participant in the prep. And even if there were - the end totally justifies the means!