Week 2025-28: Crockpot Pasta ala Vodka

The Recipe
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup vodka (just use the cheap kind)
2 (400g) cans tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Penne pasta
Bacon (optional)
Fresh basil

Heat the olive oil, onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, and dried oregano in a large skillet over medium low heat. Cook, stirring often until the onion is soft and the garlic fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add the vodka, raise the heat, and bring the mixture to a boil, boil 5 minutes. Add to the crockpot along with the tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and large pinch of salt + pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Use a stick blender to puree until smooth. Add cream and parmesan. Cook uncovered on HIGH for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cook pasta according to instructions. Use the skillet from before to cook bacon. Add bacon and chopped fresh basil to the pasta. Serve with sauce and extra parmesan cheese.

The Verdict
This recipe makes a LOT of tomato sauce! It'll easily stretch to 6 people - I ended up freezing more than half of it. It tasted amazing though, so I hope it will freeze well. It needed a tad more salt (note to self - don't be so skimpy next time) and I added more chili to my portion, but I don't think DH would appreciate if I added more to the sauce itself ;-)

It's a bit more work than I'm used to for a crockpot recipe, since I had to saute the onions ahead of time. I considered not doing that, but don't know what it'll do to the recipe, if the vodka doesn't have time to simmer. Although I couldn't really taste the vodka at all, so wonder what it would be like if I just left it out!

Anyways, it made for a delicious tomato sauce, and if it freezes well, I could definitely see myself making this again.