I’m still blissed out due to the summer hols which meant I could play out on a school night. Regretted that as much as Brexit voters. It was a bottomless wine night and I woke up the next day feeling like I’d got my head stuck in a bell jar. However, I knew my ‘hair of the dog’ pasta was going to revive me and help him rest his weary bones after work (I’ve googled civil engineers and they just hold pieces of large paper with a white hard hat on). 

The neighbours are on holiday so their cat popped over for a bit of an afternoon gossip and looked a bit p*ssed off that I wasn’t cooking any meat. However, this is a nice recipe for humans and there are lots of recipes on Pinterest. I’ve tweaked this one from ‘Innocent Delight’ so thank you for that. You’re meant to top it off with fresh parsley but my wine addled brain got coriander so my tip is not to do that.

Here’s Marley dreaming about being an otter and opening clams with a little stone:

Vodka pasta

• 400g small vine ripened tomatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 2 shots of vodka
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• Pinch of chilli flakes
• 100ml single cream
•  Pinch of salt and pepper
• 250g of penne pasta

1. Preheat the oven to 200g. In a heavy bottomed pan, sauté the onion in a splash of olive oil for about 5 mins then add the oregano, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper. Add the vodka and let it reduce down to make a sticky syrup this takes about 2 minutes.
2. Chop the tomatoes into quarters and toss in the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Stick the pan in the oven for 40-45 mins.
3. Put the tomatoes in a blender and blend until smooth. Then slowly add the cream and continue to blend.
4. Cook the penne, drain and mix the sauce  with the pasta. Serve with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley- or dried if you’re a dope like me.