I remember having a vodka spaghetti sauce at a restaurant in London, and it had a nice extra kick. Since my favourite spirit is gin, I decided to make a recipe for gin spaghetti. It’s interesting because the taste of the botanicals add to the normal tomato sauce. You can’t taste the alcohol, because that boils off during the preparation. However, the extra flavour is unique and I can’t wait to try other gins. If you are vegetarian, you can either skip the meatballs or use a meat substitute.
Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
2 tins of chopped tomatoes (454 g each) and/or equivalent of fresh tomatoes
Handful of basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp dried Italian herbs mix
1 Tbsp sugar
200 ml gin
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili pepper flakes to taste (optional but recommended)
Instructions
First, in a large saucepan, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Next, add tinned tomatoes. Saute for 5 minutes. Then add herbs, sugar and gin. Increase heat to medium high and ensure that the gin evaporates so the flavour will remain but it won’t taste like alcohol. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally, add chili flakes to taste. Cook for a few more minutes.
Serve hot over cooked spaghetti (and meatballs if you like those too).
Go to United Kingdom
Go to UK Recipes
Go to Recipe Map