I’ve been doing a lot of menu planning these past weeks for outpost guests. During this process I’ve been trying to get creative with menu items and pick things that taste good, but don’t take a masterchef to create.

I like this recipe for a couple reasons. One, it is easy and has only a few ingredients and two, it has booze in it. 🙂 Especially now for me, when things are hectic with opening season looming, recipes like these become invaluable.Pasta alla vodka, can be made and served to hungry people in relatively short time. I thought this recipe would be a good side dish to some baked walleye. A simple trick is to get your fish ready and put into tin foil, season as desired and bake until ready.

Pasta alla vodka is dead simple to make as well. It requires 7 ingredients. Pasta (I like penne), a can of diced tomatoes, garlic, onion and pancetta (or bacon), heavy cream, and of course vodka.

1) Finely dice half an onion, mince 4 cloves of garlic and finely dice a few tbsp of pancetta.

2) Cook pasta as per the package instructions (drain and set aside. Don’t rinse as the starch helps the sauce still.Oil it a little so it doesn’t stick—this can all be done while making the sauce)

3) Take one tsp of oil, heat and add the pancetta in a large frying pan. Add onion and garlic and sweat until transparent.

4) Deglaze the pan with one cup of vodka. Reduce. (cook out the raw booze taste) Take a shot yourself.

5) Add canned tomatoes and stir. Reduce heat. Take another shot yourself.

6) Slowly add the cream and stir. Finish the bottle.

7) Add pasta, coat with sauce, and serve. Shred parmesan cheese on top.

8) Enjoy!

-Krista