Penne in a Vodka Cream Tomato Sauce

Do you know what I mean when I say your mood often dictates what you want or how you want to eat? Like when I have had a very busy week or day, I often say to my husband...Honey, I need to be waited on...and out to dinner we go. A lot of those times I would have enjoyed the food created at home better...BUT I did get to sit back, relax, get waited on and BONUS...no dishes!
Growing up every Sunday...and I mean every Sunday, we had a Perdue chicken with all the fixings. I am the oldest of 5 children and we would often be like ...uuuggg a chicken again...we often said we never wanted to see another Perdue chicken as long as we lived. But you know how it goes, those were the days and I often wish for...a Perdue chicken Sunday with everyone around the table again. Have to say as crazy as this may sound...when I was first married, one night after work I cooked a Perdue chicken for dinner...you would think I could do it with my eyes closed after all those Sunday dinners (plus I was into cooking as well). When the chicken was done, I pulled it from the oven to carve it and guess what...I took off the legs (yuck, I am a white meat gal) but no white meat...what kind of a chicken doesn't have white meat. It was already late, like 8:00, I was hungry and tired, I threw the chicken in the sink, threw my hands up started to cry and ran to the bedroom to sulk. My husband who didn't cook at all came to the bedroom to try and calm me down. He had known me for over 5 years and knew that I didn't react this way to anything...he listened to me freaking out about a chicken with no white meat etc and gently said. "Honey you cooked it upside down, all the meat was there". I was like "oh" I was just looking to recreate the comfort I had from those Sunday dinners and look what I got lol!
Oh well! The sides were good!
One of my favorite comfort foods is pasta...love it! I especially like a vodka sauce.

Enjoy!

Penne in a Vodka Cream Tomato Sauce

1 TBS butter
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 cup whipping cream
dash or two of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup decent vodka
1 box penne pasta
dash of S&P
Optional garnish - shredded Parmesan cheese

Place butter and oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add in chopped onion and saute for 6 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes or until just about no liquid remains in the pan, stirring often. Add in cream, red pepper flakes and vodka. Bring to a boil until thickened a bit about 2 minutes. Season to your liking with salt pepper and in some additional red pepper if you like it spicy.

Cook penne according to package directions. When ready to serve, reheat sauce and toss with the penne.
Throw in a hunk of crusty bread to sop up the sauce, a salad and a bottle of wine(maybe a candle or two) and you have a great weekend by the fire with a movie after meal!

Enjoy!

Colleen