Tomato Vodka Sauce

Recipe adapted from 'Antoine's Pasta Cookbook, A Special Edition Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of A. Zerega's Sons, Inc. 1848-1998.' Permission to reprint granted by A. Zerega's Sons, Inc. and The American Cooking Guild, publishers.

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Traditionally served with penne pasta, tomato vodka sauce is also delicious served over stuffed pastas, like ravioli. For gourmet, restaurant-quality tasting shrimp sauce, add peeled and deveined shrimp to the simmering sauce.

1/2 stick (4-ounces) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 (35-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes with their liquid

or 2 (14 -ounce) cans Del Monte Petite Cut Garlic & Olive Oil Diced Tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove pan from the stove and add the vodka and red pepper flakes. Return pan to heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. While vodka mixture is simmering, place tomatoes in the container of a food processor, or blender, and pulse for a few seconds, just until tomatoes are finely chopped. (Do not over process, or tomatoes will become aerated and turn pink.) Add tomatoes, cream and salt to skillet, and simmer for 5 minutes more. For shrimp sauce: Add 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp to the simmering sauce, and cook covered until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Makes enough sauce for about 1 pound of cooked pasta, serving 4.