A Toast to this Vodka Sauce!!

This is a Kooky Boozy favorite!!!!

We made this sauce to top whole wheat pasta. The pasta was perfect and everyone loved the sauce. The combination of the two were to die for! This recipe does call for tomato sauce and for that I used my KooBoo Basic Tomato Sauce.

KooBoo Vodka Sauce

4 tbsp. Butter
2 Garlic Cloves (Chopped)
1/3 c. Vodka
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan Cheese (Fresh is best)
1 3/4 c. Heavy Cream
1 1/2 c. Tomato Sauce (The KooBoo Basic Tomato Sauce is always a good pick but you can substitute canned)

Begin with a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and when it begins to foam add the garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, add the vodka and stir. After a minute or two the alcohol should burn off. Once the alcohol burns off, add the tomato sauce and cream.
Stir for about 7-10 minutes. Placed drained pasta into frying pan, add parmesan cheese and mix until all pasta is coated.

- Mac, The Saucy One

Who can Complain about Homemade Tomato Sauce?

I use this tomato sauce when sauce recipes call for canned tomato sauce. It is definitely worth the time to make it fresh and it is noticeable when you do. It can also be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge.

KooBoo Basic Tomato Sauce

4 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Large Onion (Diced)
Roughly 40 Cherry Tomatoes (Can be substituted for 2 12oz. cans of crushed tomatoes)
2 1/2 c. Water
6 oz. Tomato Paste
4 Basil Leaves
4 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Pepper

If using fresh tomatoes, slice in half and place in a roasting pan covered with olive oil. Set oven to 350 and cook for 25-30 minutes. Tomatoes will be juicy and their skin will have begun to wrinkle from the heat.
Using a large saucepan on medium heat begin by sauteing the onion in the oil. When onions begin to brown, add tomatoes, water, tomato paste, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Let mixture sit until sauce is boiling. You will know when the sauce is ready because the oil will rise to the top.

Once the sauce is finished you can either leave it is this state or puree it. I usually puree the sauce if I am choosing to use this sauce instead of canned sauce in another recipe. The family also loves to dip bread into the remaining sauce as an appetizer.

- Mac, The Saucy One

Lemons, Lemons, and... More Lemons

As the "Saucy One" I am in charge of creating sauces to match the many kinds of pasta being created in the KooBoo kitchen. When I was presented with lemon/rosemary fettucini I was certainly stumped. I do however believe I found the perfect match. It is a creamy sauce but suprisingly not very heavy. The texture is similar to alfredo but the taste is light.

KooBoo Lemon and Garlic Sauce

2 c. Heavy Cream
5 Garlic Cloves (chopped)
Zest of 2 Lemons
6 tbsp. Butter
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
2 c. Parmesan Cheese
Juice of 1 and a 1/2 Lemons

Over medium heat in a medium saucepan saute the garlic and lemon zest. After about 5 minutes (or until the contents become aromatic), add the olive oil, cream, and spices to saucepan and heat thoroughly. Just before serving (can be reheated) add 3/4 of the parmesan cheese and lemon juice.

Serve and top with remaining parmesan cheese.

- Mac, The Saucy One

The First Finished Pasta

After about 24 hours, the first batch of pasta has been dried and bagged. This is a bag of whole wheat and a bag of rosemary whole wheat.

The whole wheat was definately my favorite. I had it topped with a homemade tomato sauce. The rosemary whole wheat had a great aroma and it only needed a small amount of olive oil and garlic to complete the flavor.

This was a trial run, and I have learned quite a bit...like I need bigger bags and more counter space!

- Sam

New Pasta Blog...

Introducing a new blog about an attempt to redirect my life...I think the answer might be pasta!

- Sam