A Double Shot of Rachael Ray

When charged with the task of making homemade pasta sauce, I knew it would have to be vodka sauce (my fave) and I went straight to epicurious.com because it's my go-to recipe site.

But when I read the reviews for various vodka sauce recipes, lots of them said that Rachael's "You Won't Be Single For Long" Vodka Sauce was the best one out there. So, did I trust this face?

Yes, indeedy. I actually made two different dishes with what will hereafter be known as Drunky Sauce.

Shot 1: Making the Sauce
As the other ladies mentioned, making the sauce itself was surprisingly easy. For mine, you just mince and saute shallots and garlic and then add some crushed tomatoes, chicken stock and vodka. You actually add a full cup of the booze, which supposedly "cooks off" during the cooking process. Then, at the end you add fresh basil and cream.

The ingredients!

The verdict: Sort of like a creamy Bloody Mary. Seriously, though, I think this sauce made me tipsy. Which could be a good thing. It was also a little bland -- I missed the preservative and sugar-packed goodness in the good old jar of Newman's. Still, it was easy to make and even better on...

Shot 2: Baked Ziti ala Drunky
Because I had almost a whole pot of sauce left over, I decided to give it another go in one of my faves, Baked Ziti. This time, I improvised by mixing ricotta cheese with and egg and mozzarella cheese, and then layering that in a casserole pan on top of Drunkified penne. On top, I put healthy layer of mozzarella cheese and baked at 450 for about 45 minutes.

Cheesarific!

The verdict: Much better. This time, I think the vodka really did cook off, and it made for a creamy, mellow base for the ziti. Seriously, it tasted great, except for the noodles burned on the bottom of the pan. Whoopsie. I guess I forgot to coat the bottom of the pan with sauce. Thankfully, the insane quantity of cheese pretty much obscured any flaws.

Ultimately, I've gotta hand it to Rachael -- this was an easy, serviceable recipe that I'll probably try again (with a pinch of sugar and higher-quality vodka). Yay for Drunky Sauce!