Penne a la Vodka

Apparently this is a manly, alcoholic pasta dish:

Recipe

1 lb penne
1 lb Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
1 can (16 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 c heavy cream
2 tbsp vodka
4 c loosely packed spinach, chopped
Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter
salt & pepper

Brown the sausage in a cast-iron skillet, then set aside to drain on some paper towels.

Probably about now, start boiling water for your pasta.

Melt the butter in your skillet, and saute the onions until soft.  Then add the mushrooms, garlic, and red pepper.  Once that's all soft, add the tomatoes, cream, vodka, and sausage.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Toss with the pasta and spinach, and top with cheese and serve.

Notes

I'll have to take their word for it that the vodka is a crucial element of the recipe - it's good but doesn't really have a drunk taste.  My main concern was really there being enough sauce to cover the pasta.  It ended up more minimal than the basic Italian/pizza joint staple.  It's a lot of ingredients to prep, but it does rotate them through one skillet - you end up needing a handful of bowls ready.  All in all a little gimmicky, but good for a couple hearty pasta meals.

There's a little bit of a comparison to the pumpkin & sausage pasta from earlier.  This one today is probably a little simpler - fewer ingredients - but the vodka maybe doesn't stand out the way pumpkin does...