Spicy Sausage Vodka Sauce

Preheat oven to 375ºF and a large ovenproof skillet with a lid to medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook for about 8 minutes, crumbling it as you go.

When sausage is browned, crumbly, and cooked through, add onion, garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir into sausage for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. If skillet seems dry, add a drizzle of olive oil.

When onion is soft, add vodka to skillet. Stir to deglaze the pan, and allow vodka to bubble for a few minutes and reduce in volume by half.

Add canned tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar to the skillet. Turn heat off and stir to combine. Cover skillet, and place in the oven. Roast sauce for 1 hour. During this time, I cook and drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water, and get out any additional garnishes and sides, such as Parmesan, fresh herbs, bread, etc.

When sauce has roasted, it should be dark in color with some of the moisture reduced. Remove carefully from the oven and stir and taste. Add a few pinches of salt if needed. Add pasta and cream to the sauce, stir to combine. If sauce has reduced too much, add some splashes of the reserved pasta water to thin it out. Taste the dish one more time and add more salt if needed.

Serve immediately with Parmesan, extra red pepper flakes, and anything else you’d like. Enjoy!