Make the Tomato Vodka Sauce Base

prep ingredients:

• Peel and finely dice the onion, and measure out what you will need for your sauce. Set aside any extra onion for other recipes.
• Peel and mince the garlic cloves and set aside with the onions.
• If you are using a food mill or strainer to make your sauce puree, you can just rinse and roughly chop the tomatoes.
• If you don’t have a food mill or strainer, you’ll need to peel and seed the tomatoes first, so that you can blend the sauce with an immersion blender or food processor.

To peel the tomatoes (for no food mill variation):

• Cut a small x in the bottom of each tomato opposite the stem.
• Blanch them in a pot of boiling water until the skins are easy to remove (10-30 seconds).
• Dunk the tomatoes into a bowl of ice water after blanching
• Slip off the skins, cut into halves or quarters, and remove most of the seeds (it’s ok if you don’t get them all, just remove most of them).
• Save the skins and seeds for vegetable or meat stock.
• Either way, put your chopped tomatoes into a large mixing bowl or container that will catch the juices after they’re cut.

simmer onions & vodka:

• Place your large stockpot or enameled dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Add the finely diced onions to your pan, along with the salt, pepper, garlic, and vodka, and stir, bringing the mixture up to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered.

add tomatoes:

• Add your diced tomatoes to the pot (preparing them according to the methods above).
• Stir all ingredients together, and bring back up to a simmer over medium heat.
• Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes and onions are soft.

puree with food mill or blender:

• Pass the sauce mixture through a food mill or strainer to make a smoothe sauce and remove the skins and peels.
• If you peeled the tomatoes before making your sauce, you can just puree them with an immersion blender, or work in batches to blend them in a food processor or regular blender. Pass the blended sauce through a strainer or wire sieve to remove the seeds if you’d like a perfectly smooth sauce.

infuse with basil & finish sauce:

• Add the pureed sauce back to the pot (unless you used an immersion blender) and add the bay leaf and whole fresh basil sprigs.
• Simmer uncovered for at least 45 minutes, or until the mixture is reduced by roughly half. I found that my sauce took much longer than the 45 minutes that Ball suggests. Stir periodically and adjust heat if necessary so that the sauce does not scorch.
• If you made a double batch or have very watery tomatoes, you will need to cook the sauce down for longer than 45 minutes, up to several hours (or add tomato paste to taste after canning when you reheat the sauce).
• If you are canning your sauce, keep hot and go to the next section.
• You can also cool, portion and freeze the sauce in heavy-duty freezer bags or air-tight containers. Freeze up to 6 months for best quality, though it will be safe to use for longer (just more likely to pick up off-flavors or freezer burn).

How to Can the Vodka Sauce Base

prep canner:

• While your strained sauce is simmering and reducing, you should fill and preheat your canner and check your jars.
• Fill the water bath canner with enough water to cover your jars by at least 1-2″ with boiling water.
• Wash your jars and new canning lids with hot soapy water.
• You can preheat your jars in the canner while you wait for your sauce to finish. Do not boil the jar lids before canning (unless you are using reusable canning lids like Weck or Tattler, in which case you should follow manufacturer directions).

fill jars:

• Using canning jar tongs or a jar rack, carefully remove the pre-heated jars from your water bath canner.
• Place the jars on a kitchen towel or wire rack. Do not put hot jars directly on a cold countertop, or they may crack or shatter.
• Using a canning funnel and ladle, fill the pint jars with the vodka sauce base. Remove the basil and bay leaves before filling the jars (or fish them out when you find them).
• Divide the sauce evenly among the jars. Leave a 1/2″ headspace at the tops of the jars. Gently stir to de-bubble the jars, using a de-bubbling tool or chopstick, and top up if needed.
• Wipe the jar rims with a clean cloth or paper towel (dip the cloth in hot water or vinegar to cut any fat or residue for better seals).
• Top the jars with canning lids and rings, and tighten the rings down fingertip tight (quite snug but not overly tight).

water-bath process (or freeze):

• Using your jar lifter, tongs, or the canning jar rack, carefully place the hot filled jars of vodka sauce in the preheated water-bath canner.
• Make sure you have adequate water covering the jars (at least 2″ over the tops of the jars). Top up with water from a hot kettle if needed.
• Start the timer for your water bath only after the water is at a rolling boil and all jars are in the canner. Process quart or pint jars for 40 minutes (adjust for altitude if applicable, see recipe notes for chart) and then turn off the heat.
• Leave the jars in the canner, and set another timer for 5 minutes before removing them.
• Remove the jars from your canner after the total time is up, and place them back on the towel-covered sheet pan or counter (put down a fresh towel if you spilled while filling the jars).
• Leave jars of processed tomato vodka sauce to cool slowly in a draft-free place. Do not touch the lid rings until the jars are completely cool and sealed (if you are using reusable canning lids, follow manufacturer instructions). Do not stack jars while they are cooling (or in storage).

cool and store jars:

• Immediately after canning your sauce, don’t touch the rings until the jars have completely cooled and the seals are set (disregard this for Tattler/Harvest Guard reusable lids only; for these, follow manufacturer instructions to carefully tighten rings immediately after removing from the canner).
• Remove the rings and check the seals on the jars after they have rested at least overnight or a minimum of 8 hours.
• Metal canning lids will ping and have a clearly depressed seal-button in the center of the jar, and reusable lids (Weck & Tattler jars) will have a strong vacuum seal holding the lids firmly in place without the clips or rings, and seal failure is very apparent.
• Promptly freeze or refrigerate any jars of vodka sauce base that did not seal and use within a few days. You can also reprocess these jars with new lids within 24 hours.

How to Make the Vodka Cream Sauce

boil pasta water & heat sauce base

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil to cook your pasta. When you cook and drain your pasta, you may want to reserve a cup or so of the cooking water to thin the sauce if needed.
• Pour a jar of the tomato vodka sauce base into a small saucepan, and reheat gently over medium heat. Use a rubber or silicone spatula to get all of the sauce out of the jar (I like to pour a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking water into the jar and shake it up to get all of the flavor out).

cook pasta & add dairy to vodka sauce:

• When your pasta is almost cooked, turn the heat under the sauce down to low and add in a splash of heavy cream or evaporated milk (start with a few tablespoons for a pint jar of sauce and a 1/4 cup of cream for a quart jar).
• Stir to fold in the cream or evaporated milk. Add more to taste if you like.
• Keep the sauce hot but don’t boil it, so that the cream or other dairy doesn’t “break” and separate.
• Drain the pasta when it is al dente (cooked but still firm), reserving a bit of the pasta water.

Combine hot pasta & sauce

• Toss the cooked pasta with a few tablespoons of butter, and a splash of the pasta water.
• Mix in your reheated tomato vodka cream sauce, and fold gently to incorporate.
• You may want to reserve some of the sauce to top the pasta or any protein that you may be serving the pasta with, such as a grilled or pan-seared chicken breast, shrimp, or steak.
• Garnish your plates of pasta with fresh basil if you have any on hand, and a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan or Romano cheese.