You can ignore the garnish here -- I had one tiny eggplant to harvest before tonight's first frost of the year. And, quite frankly, pasta alla vodka needs no garnish. It is completely delicious as is, though not exactly a dish to be eaten when counting calories.
I make it whenever I have leftover roasted cherry tomato sauce on hand; a very versatile sauce that I have on a regular rotation and which I highly recommend that you try. You will start adding it to everything.
1 portion of your favorite pasta (both pasta and portion size are very subjective things.)
1/3 cup of roasted cherry tomato sauce
1 1/2 Tbsps heavy cream
2 tsps vodka
2 tsps pasta cooking water
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
Cook your pasta according to the directions on the package, minus thirty seconds of cooking time. Drain and set aside (reserving the two teaspoons of pasta water that you need first.)
Using the pan in which you cooked the pasta, add the vodka and bring to a boil over low heat. Cook for thirty seconds before adding the tomato sauce and the pasta water. Stir to combine and bring back to the boil.
Stir in the red pepper flakes and all of the grated Parmesan except for one teaspoon or so that you should reserve for garnish.
Stir constantly to incorporate the melting Parmesan into the sauce. As soon as the cheese has melted, add the pasta and the cream to the pan and cook for the remaining thirty seconds of pasta cooking time, stirring to coat each strand of the pasta with the thick, rich sauce. Check for seasoning as you do and add salt if needed.
Remove from the pan to your serving dish and sprinkle with the remaining grated Parmesan.