Here is a recipe that takes seasonal, peak tomatoes. Instead of making a traditional marinara sauce here, you’re going to be adding vodka and cream. It’s creamy and tangy, and lovely to make your own heirloom tomato vodka sauce. I used a rotini pasta in this recipe but you can really add it to any pasta noodle you prefer. 

I saw an article on The New Yorker that (lovingly) made fun of how so many food blogs spend 10,000 words opening their food blog posts with a deeply personal story. They go on and on and on all about their emotional connection to an ingredient through a past life, how much their husband used to hate said ingredient but now loves it in this recipe. So I am choosing to not do that…this time and cut straight to the point. Blah blah blah feelings feelings feelings. Here we go, onto the recipe 🙂

So in the spirit of NOT doing 10,000 words on my love of heirloom tomatoes or the awesome chickpea-based pasta that Banza hooked up me up with. And trust me, I could ramble on for a while! Instead I’m gonna cut straight to the recipe for this heirloom tomato vodka sauce. 🙂

Mimi Newman here is a recipe for pasta with an heirloom tomato vodka sauce that will light your tomato-loving, seasonal ingredient heart on fire!

  • 3 lbs of heirloom tomatoes any kind – grated
  • 1 yellow onion chopped very very finely
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt and pepper
  • ½ cup of vodka
  • ½ cup of cream
  • 4 oz of any pasta you like but I used Banza rotini in this recipe
  • In a skillet or pot, heat 1 T of olive oil and saute onion with a pinch of kosher salt, to get them sweating and brown/golden.
  • Add in the vodka and deglaze the pan, and let it reduce by half.
  • Add in the grated tomatoes and let it reduce by a third or so – 10 minutes on medium heat. Add in a decent amount of salt, more than you think – to taste.
  • Add in the cream, and season to taste. Let simmer while you make the pasta.
  • Make pasta to directions, then strain and toss with the heirloom tomato vodka sauce.

Serving: 1cupSodium: 1296mgCalcium: 81mgVitamin C: 97mgVitamin A: 5918IUSugar: 20gFiber: 9gPotassium: 11452mgCalories: 548kcalSaturated Fat: 2gFat: 14gProtein: 7gCarbohydrates: 68gIron: 4mg