There was a birthday at our house this week, and for my son, that means he gets to choose what to do for dinner.  He chose to pick some of his favorites from the menu at Chez Lorusso.

One of our go-to comfort food recipes is ziti with a decadent sausage laden vodka sauce.  Vodka sauce, is by definition decadent, due to the addition of cream that gives it the pretty salmon color and silky rich finish.  

In our house, we up the ante with sausage and mushrooms, inspired by a similar dish at the local Papa Razzi restaurant.  For the sausage, I generally use ground sweet Italian sausage, but you could also use sausage links sliced into chunks, or hot Italian sausage, or a combination of the two.

I have made it with and without the mushrooms.  I used to dislike mushrooms, but lately I’ve developed a taste for the baby bella variety, and they add some nice bulk without upping the already significant calorie content.

Although it IS called vodka sauce, I’m not entirely sure the vodka is essential - there are so many other bold and rich flavors, and much of the alcohol cooks off in the recipe as written.  I have skipped it altogether when we are unexpectedly out, and I’ve reserved a bit to add at the end with the cream to give it a little kick - you can choose whichever option suits you best.   

While this sauce can be made with ANY pasta shape, I find the tubular shapes trap this particular sauce nicely for a good sauce-to-pasta ratio in every bite. Also, you don’t have to worry about twirling long strands or ribbons and accidentally splattering sauce all over yourself or your dining companions, so it makes a better option when you have guests!

This is super simple and quite fast to make, so it is suitable for weeknight gourmet fare, but it is also decadent enough for a celebration or dinner guests! 

The best part is, it is just as good reheated the next day.  Yay for comfort food on hand on these chilly fall days!  If you need to bulk up for winter, this will do it.  This is most assuredly not a low calorie dish, but the taste is worth every single calorie I will have to walk off on a treadmill or trail!

Pasta and Vodka Sauce with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Onions

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• dash hot red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 large sweet onion, peeled, halved, and sliced

• 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced

• 1 28 oz can crushed peeled tomatoes - for even more tomato flavor you can add 1/4 cup of tomato paste as well.

• 1/2 cup vodka

• up to 1 cup heavy cream

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 lb tubular pasta like penne, rigatoni, or ziti

Directions

• In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil. Add sausage, garlic, hot red pepper flakes, and onion.  

• As the sausage begins to brown, add mushroom slices.

• Sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are well cooked and beginning to caramelize. 

• Add vodka to deglaze pan, scraping up any stuck brown bits to dissolve.  

• Add tomatoes and simmer to meld flavors ~15 minutes

• While sauce is simmering bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta to an al dente doneness

• Finish vodka sauce by stirring in cream - add as much or as little as you like.  I go by color and am usually aiming for a salmon-y tone.

• Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Drain pasta and mix into sauce in sauté pan.

Serve hot with fresh parmesan to grate over top, and some nice rustic bread to sop up every last drop of the tasty sauce.  Adding a side salad makes it practically virtuous and cancels out all the calories…or at least we pretend it does.  Also, birthday calories should not count!

We served this with a simple green salad and a side of garlic bread and a lovely red wine to toast the birthday boy.  It is very rich and very filling. 

Several hours later we were finally ready for dessert - his new favorite, our carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (you can find that recipe and a simple but impressive cake decorating idea here)!   

Happy birthday to my favorite pianist, on-demand gardener,  patio accessory assembler, fellow movie/TV critic, and gastronome!  Love you to the moon and back, Jamie, and so lucky to be your mom!

Other posts you might enjoy

Simple No-knead rustic bread recipe

Focaccia recipe

Super simple pasta sauce

Carrot cake recipe (with bonus easy decorating idea)