PENNE ALLA VODKA

Penna alla vodka

PENNA ALLA VODKA

#SIAintheKitchen

I’m really not sure what’s more comforting than a big bowl of penne all vodka. It’s an extremely rich dish with the easiest sauce ever, the main ingredients being vodka, cream and tomato paste. It makes for an easy weeknight dinner but it’ll have you feeling that you transported to Italy in one bite.

As a kid, I always thought the dish was “risqué”. I mean, it had vodka in it. It contained alcohol! I thought the dish was reserved for adults so I never had the opportunity to try it as a kid. As an adult, however, I remember it being a rather simplistic dish. The dish is carried throughout the sauce - it’s what really makes it. Sure, other recipes might add chicken to it or vegetables but I’ve kept it relatively minimalistic. Just a few aromatics and the base ingredients like I had listed earlier: vodka, tomato, and cream.

Feel free to use any pasta here. I had an annoyingly small amount of both penne and fusilli so I just combined the two which worked perfectly to hold all that sauce. Buon appetito!

PENNE ALLA VODKA -serves 6 - 8

  • 1.5 lbs penne

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter

  • 1/2 white onion, diced

  • 6 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1/2 tsp dried red chili flakes

  • 10 oz tomato paste

  • 1/2 cup vodka

  • 1/2 cup pasta water

  • 2 cups whipping cream

  • 2 tsps kosher salt

  • 1 tbsp better than bouillon, chicken

  • freshly ground pepper, as needed

  • 1 bunch basil, chiffonade (for garnish)

  1. Bring a pot of heavily-salted water to a boil and cook the pasta til al dente, no longer than 6 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and set aside. Drain and rinse the pasta.

  2. While the pasta is cooking, get started on the sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Allow for the butter to melt completely and add the onion, garlic and chilli flakes and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes.

  3. Stir in the tomato paste and allow to toast for another minute.

  4. De-glaze the pan with the vodka and scrape off any browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

  5. Increase the heat and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer and to allow the sauce to thicken and slightly reduce, about 10 minutes. Season to taste.

  6. Turn off the heat and toss with the pasta. Portion into bowls and garnish with basil.

ITALIAN, AMERICAN, PLANT-BASEDStephanie Siaitalian food, sia in the kitchen, penne alla vodka, vodka sauce, vodka sauce recipe, pasta vodka sauce, italian pastaComment