2/3cupsliced sun-dried tomatoes in oil, I used one that had some oregano in it too
1/4cupvodka
2cupsheavy cream
kosher salt
black pepper
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated on microplane
Instructions
Heat the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and the butter in a big sauté pan or large pot over medium heat.
Once, the butter is melted and bubbling, add the grated garlic an cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes and whisk together.
Cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste has darkened and has caramelized, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil penne in heavily salted boiling water until cooked just before al-dente, about 2 minutes shy of box instructions. Drain and save at least 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water.
Deglaze the pan by adding the vodka and scraping up anything that is stuck to the pan.
Stir in the heavy cream, season with salt and fresh black pepper.
Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and has darkened a bit, about 10-15 minutes.
Add the penne and about 1/2 cup of pasta water to the pan and stir to coat.
Turn the heat back up to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thick and the penne is cooked through. Add more pasta water as needed if the sauce gets too thick before the pasta is ready.
Serve immediately with a mountainous cloud of grated Parmigiano and a few cracks of fresh black pepper.
Notes
SAVE YOUR PASTA WATER TO RE-HEAT THIS! This sauce gets thicker as it sits and cools, you should keep some extra pasta cooking water to thin out the sauce if it gets too think. It's fantastic for re-heating this too. You can use olive oil instead of the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes.I grate my garlic on a microplane to it disappears into the sauce. If you don't have one, just chop the garlic as finely as you can.Penne is classic but any other pasta shapes work here.