Fettuccine with Vodka Sauce
Yields: 4-6 Servings
Time: Some overnight prep, 1.5 hour assembly
My grandmother Louise taught me how to make this sauce when I was eight years old. I remember her saying “you’ll know if it’s a traditional vodka sauce if it doesn’t have too much in it. And no meat!”. Now, if you want to add a nice pancetta or prosciutto to this dish, feel free. But the simplicity of this sauce really is what makes it shine!
Ingredients For Sauce:
Two 28oz cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes
Vodka
Yellow onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Unsalted butter
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Heavy cream (brought to room temperature)
Parsley and basil (fresh always preferred but dry is fine)
Parmesan cheese
Ingredients for Pasta:
2 large eggs
2 cups type 00 flour
3 large egg yolks
Semolina flour (to prevent sticking)
Special Equipment:
Pasta roller with fettuccine cutting attachment
Directions
Step One:
Soak red pepper flakes in 1/2-3/4 cup of vodka overnight or for at least 2 hours. The longer the soak, the more intense the flavor. How much red pepper to use is based off your spice tolerance. I suggest a minimum of 1 tbsp. or you risk not tasting any pepper in the final sauce.
Step Two:
On a large counter surface, sift 2 cups of flour into a mound. With your pointer and middle finger, create a small well in the center, add eggs and egg yolks. Using a fork, whisk eggs and yolks to combine, slowly bringing in flour from the edges of the well. Continue this process until you start to form a scraggly dough. If the dough seems dry you can work in another egg yolk or tablespoon of water until all flour is incorporated.
Step Three:
Lightly flour a clean surface and begin to knead dough for 5-8 minutes until smooth and uniform in color. “Should feel like a baby’s butt,” so says grandma Louise! Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours at room temperature.
Step Four:
While dough is resting, being preparing the vodka sauce. Start by finely dicing 1/2 a yellow onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic. (Want more of either? Go for it!) Set these aside. Roughly chop about a handful each of fresh parsley and basil, then set aside. In a large sauce pan, add olive oil, then once warmed, add butter. Sauté onion and garlic in oil/butter mixture over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until onion is slightly transparent and garlic is golden. Season to taste with kosher salt.
Step Five:
Strain vodka of red pepper flakes and pour over onion and garlic. Caution: the vapors of the evaporating alcohol can be quite strong. Reduce vodka until you can no longer smell the alcohol in the steam, about 5-6 minutes.
Step Six:
Open cans of tomatoes and drain all excess liquid from only one of the two cans. Place tomatoes from both cans into a bowl and crush with your hands. If you like a very smooth sauce, use an emersion blender to crush the tomatoes. Reduce the heat under the saucepan to medium low and add tomatoes. Heat until a very small simmer begins to form. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do not let sauce come to a full boil.
Step Seven:
Once the sauce is simmering, prep baking sheets or whatever you want to dry your pasta on (I prefer hangers!) Add a generous sprinkle of semolina flour. As a tip, it’s better to err on the side of too much rather than too little.
Step Eight:
Cut off one quarter of the dough at a time. Wrap the rest and set aside. Using your hand or a wooden rolling pin press the quarter into a small oval, about the width of your pasta roller. On the thickest setting, pass your dough through the roller. Fold dough in half widthwise and pass through roller again on the thickest setting.
Step Nine:
Continue to roll out dough, thinning the roller setting with each pass through (twice on the same setting if dough needs smoothing). If dough begins to stick to itself, add a light sprinkle of all-purpose flour. Keep rolling pasta until you can slightly see the outline of your hand underneath the sheet. You should get this result on the second-to-last setting of your roller. The thinnest setting will most likely be too thin.
Step Ten:
Add fettuccine cutting attachment to roller and pass dough through, adding flour to prevent sticking if needed. Lay pasta on prepped baking sheets (or hangers!) and set aside. Repeat steps 8-10 with the remaining dough.
Step Eleven:
Bring a large pot of water (4-6 qts. per pound of pasta) to a rolling boil and season generously with kosher salt. Like, a lot of salt. Really! Taste a spoonful of the water; it should taste like the ocean. Right before you’re ready to serve, add the room temperature heavy cream to your sauce, just enough to make it a nice blush color. Add about three-quarters of the chopped basil and parsley, and combine. You want to do this now since the pasta only takes about two minutes to cook.
Step Twelve:
Add pasta to salted water and cook about 2 minutes or until the noodles begin to float towards the surface. It happens fast! Cook in batches if needed depending on the size pot you have available. Drain using a colander or sieve.
Step Thirteen:
Add drained pasta to saucepan and freshly grate parmesan on top. Toss to combine. Serve immediately with a garnish of the remaining chopped basil and parsley (maybe some more Parm and sauce too!).
Tips
Quality is the key to this dish. The better the ingredients, the better the final product. The three things you don’t want to skimp on: olive oil, tomatoes and parmesan. A recently bottled, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil is best. Always make sure to check the bottle for a “bottled on” date, rather than an expiration date. The closer you are to the date the olives were harvested and processed, the better. Quality oils can get very expensive so if you’re looking for a more moderate, every day EVOO, I recommend Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
San Marzano tomatoes are worth the price. They are meatier and more flavorful than your average canned tomato. Try out these pomodori pelati at Simpson Brands.
I promise you that a block of parmesan from a local producer or trusted importer will change your life! They take more care in the aging process and leave the cheese in whole blocks/wheels (unlike that pre-grated Kraft that’s been in your cabinet for 6 months). A Parm that’s been aged longer will have a sharper, more intense flavor as the calcium lactate or “flavor crystals” have had more time to develop and mature. For a big splurge, check out Consorzio Zacche Rosse. If you want to stay local, head to a farmers market near you. You can almost always find a cheesemonger who if they don’t have great Parm themselves will be able to tell you where to find some.
Photography by Cecilia Aguirre.
