Creamy Vodka Sauce

I found a recipe online that I had to seriously tweak, because I only had certain things. Not to mention, we enjoy flavour, so I had to add in all the herbs & spices you see below. By the time I was done, none of the measurements of the original recipe were the same, and the ingredients list had doubled. It's not a quick-cook recipe, but hands on time is quick. I opened & prepped everything at the beginning, so all I had to do was add, add, add at each interval. BOY was it DELIGHTFUL!!!



1 small onion, diced
1 stick butter
1/2 c vodka
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t dried basil
2 15-oz cans crushed tomatoes
12 oz cream
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat butter in small stockpot until melted & just starting to sizzle. Add onion. Cook over medium heat until the mixture JUST begins to look a caramel colour, about 10 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. Add vodka, garlic powder, basil, & cook over medium another 10 minutes, again, stirring a few times. Add tomatoes & bay leaf. Continue cooking over medium low heat, stirring often to prevent sticking, 30 minutes. Finally add cream, salt & pepper, and continue cooking 30 minutes, stirring often.


We added tortellini & meatballs to ours. My meatballs were homemade & frozen, so I added those about 10 minutes after I added the cream, turning the heat back to medium. At the last 5 minutes, I added the frozen tortellini & turned the heat to med-high.