New Year's Day Simple Pasta Dinner: Bloody Mary Sauce

The New Year has just begun. This is the first evening of a brand New Year. Why not start it in style by also remembering that the first of January is National Bloody Mary Day . Whipping up a drink recipe would be the typical move for today. But who wants to start the New Year doing what everyone else is doing? This is a new day, a New Year and time for a new way to prepare your dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of spaghetti
• 3 cups of tomato sauce
• ¼ - ¾ cup of vodka (to taste)
• 6 teaspoons of white horseradish
• 3 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of celery salt
• 1/3 teaspoon of pepper
• ½ teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

Garnish:

• Green pepper slices
• Raw red onion slices
• Asparagus spears
• Texas Toast garlic bread

Directions:

1. In a medium sized pot fill ¾ the way up with water.
2. Turn heat to medium high.
3. Cover pot and allow water to come to a full boil.
4. In the meantime, slowly heat the tomato sauce in a medium sized sauce pan.
5. By now the water should be boiling.
6. Add spaghetti and cook until tender.
7. Once the sauce gets very warm add in the horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce.
8. Stir until the horseradish is mixed in thoroughly.
9. Add in the celery salt, pepper and the juice of a half a lemon.
10. Stir sauce and turn heat off from under pan.
11. Pour the spaghetti over a colander and drain off the water.
12. Transfer spaghetti into a pasta platter.
13. Add in the vodka to the sauce and stir.
14. Remove sauce pan from stove and pour over spaghetti in the pasta platter.
15. Garnish with pepper or onion slices and include a few slices of garlic bread on the side.
16. The spaghetti and Bloody Mary sauce are ready to serve.
17. Enjoy!

Suggestions:

• Do not use plain canned tomato sauce. If you don't have homemade sauce ready in your kitchen use a jar sauce (around 24 ounces). Choose one that is either a simple marinara or one that has a zesty flavor to it.
• Do not choose a jar sauce that is chunky or one that is flavored or contains additional ingredients such as mushrooms.
• For all those who prefer a non-alcoholic dish the remedy is simple. Instead of adding ¼ - ¾ of a cup of vodka just add ¼ - ¾ of a cup of either white grape juice or apple cider.
• Texas Toast brand garlic bread is pretty good in a pinch and does not take long to heat in the oven. Preheat the oven when the water boils and add the garlic bread slices into the oven at the same time the spaghetti goes into the pot.
• A small salad on the side and your meal is complete.

Homemade garlic bread and tomato sauce is much tastier but since this is New Year's Eve you want a good dinner that is fast to prepare so you can take your time getting dressed up for your New Year's Eve party.

All ingredients listed in this recipe are available at the local Winona market . Hopefully you stocked up on some staples after the last holiday celebration. Then you can just relax the evening away since you stayed up so late ringing in the New Year.

Happy New Year!