I didn’t know such a thing as vodka cream sauce existed until I saw Rachel Ray make it many years ago on 30 Minute Meals. Still, I never made it and never had the opportunity to try it until our recent trip to Italy. Upon our return I eyed the bottle of vodka in the freezer and decided the time to make penne alla vodka had come.
Rachel Ray calls her recipe “You Won’t Be Single for Long Vodka Cream Pasta” and I borrowed heavily from it. There are other recipes on the web which add bacon or pancetta. I purchased a pack of “tiras” which are little pieces of jamon which can be pan fried much like you’d use cubed bacon. It was a 70g pack which works out to about 2.5 ounces.
There are commercially prepared vodka sauces on the market, but this is so easy I’m content to make this myself since I tend to have everything I need in my pantry anyway. Sure, it’s a little more trouble than opening a jar and emptying the contents into a sauce pan, but the fresh taste (and lack of industrial preservatives and flavorings) far outweighs the convenience.
This recipe will make four servings. If making for two people, cook a half pound of pasta and reserve half the sauce for later.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 2-3 oz diced bacon, pancetta or jamon
- 1/2 onion, chopped fine
- 1 cup vodka
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 can crushed tomatoes (± 28 oz)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh basil leaves
- Parmesan cheese (block or grated is fine)
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil for sauteing the onions
Method:
- Start the water for the pasta. Add the pasta when the water comes to a boil and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.
- Heat the olive oil with a few red pepper flakes in a large skillet. Saute the onions until they start to soften.
- Carefully add the vodka and allow to reduce. (Be smart if using an open flame, ok?)
- Add the chicken stock and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to a simmer while the pasta finishes cooking.
- Stir cream into the sauce and heat through. Remove from heat before the sauce starts to bubble and spit.
- Mix the pasta and the sauce together. Toss with fresh basil leaves and top with parmesan cheese.
I’m not sure penne alla vodka would have been enough to attract Rick’s attention when we were dating, but we certainly intend to enjoy it more often now that we’ve found an easy recipe.
Oh Lydia! You are not going to believe this. I have eaten Vodka sauce for years and I had no idea there was actually Vodka in it. Can you believe that?! Thanks so much for sharing this at Let’s Get Real so I didn’t have to live in the dark any longer. This looks like a sauce I would really enjoy making. My family loves their pasta and a little extra Vodka for the cook never hurt anyone!
You could probably omit the vodka and everyone would still like it 🙂 Be careful not to get sauced making the sauce, hahaha!
Lydia, you’re right. This is extremely easy and I think my husband will love it. While on a business trip, he had pasta with a vodka sauce and loved it. I will have to make this for him next week. I’ve pinned it for later. Thanks for sharing this at the Let’s Get Real Friday Link Party. I hope you’ll join us again this week.
I’m sure it will be a hit!
This looks delicious and so simple! I’ll have to try!
xx Kait
Looks so delicious!! Thanks for linking up!!
~ Betsy @ Romance on a dime
Oh my goodness carbs!! I’m just going to eat my screen don’t mind me 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks for sharing.
XOXO
It was good! I’ve been thinking about trying the sauce over some roasted cauliflower, what do you think? Be careful not to break your teeth on the circuit boards, ok?
Lydia,
I’ve featured your post on #GetHimFed Fridays this week. Thanks so much for sharing.
Annamaria
Oh my goodness! Thank you! I’m excited to be “certified MANly” Thanks again 🙂
My favorite pasta dish! Can’t wait to try your recipe! Thank you for guest hosting & sharing on Whatever Wednesday on Thank You Honey!
It was my pleasure, Sarah. Enjoy the pasta 🙂
Thank you for linking up at Tasty Tuesdays! Your post has been pinned to my Recipes from Tasty Tuesday board. I can’t wait to see what you link up next week!
Have a terrific weekend!
Cathy
APeekIntoMyParadise.com
#TastyTuesdays
I’ve never made anything with vodka sauce but this looks pretty easy:) Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
I was easy Rachel, I hope you give it a try. You’ll probably wonder why you hadn’t made it before like I did. 🙂
Yum, I had a vodka tomato suace and it wasn’t that great, but this sounds awesome!! Thanks for coming over and sharing at The Weekend Retreat hope to see you back on Thursday!!
I was thinking what I would substitute the pork with? Chicken sausage maybe? I have no clue. Just by looking at it, I would never know meat was in it at all. This one looks fresh and yummy too. Rachael Ray’s recipe title is hilarious. Thanks for sharing this one with us too at Countdown in Style 🙂
Brittnei, you could probably just leave it out, although chicken sausage is a possibility. Let me know what you try.
Wowzer this looks so yummy!!!
This looks so amazing! I pinned it and am sharing on my Social Media!
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
Thanks, Jess! I appreciate the pins and sharing. It’s really good and I hope you make it. I’m sure you’ll like it 🙂
This is perfect, I could live off pasta! Pinned to my Marvelous Mondays board.
It was delicious! I can’t believe I waited so long to try it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Have a great week! 🙂
As much alcohol as I drink (I know that makes me sound like I’m an alcoholic), I rarely cook with it. I really need to try it. I’ve seen some great recipes with it. I hadn’t imagined vodka in a penne sauce, but it’s worth a try. Do you recommend a vodka? Thanks for sharing with Countdown in Style.
I used some cheap vodka I bought to make vanilla extract (they sell liquor in the grocery stores in Spain, isn’t that awesome? or strange depending how you look at it…). I’m cheap when it comes to that sort of thing so I usually get Gordon’s Vodka. It’s really smooth. I saw someone else recommend a pepper vodka when I was searching through the recipes. Have fun!
Yummy!!! This looks good! Thanks for sharing with #LOBS! ~A~
My husband makes homemade pasta, I am showing him this recipe it looks great. Thank you for sharing it on our Four Seasons Blog Hop. Pinning now.
I’ll bet that would be awesome! Thanks for pinning 🙂
This sounds so good! I love a good vodka sauce. Pinning this for future use by my husband. 🙂
I love vodka sauce but I’ve never made it…I don’t know why because I like to cook and it doesn’t seem difficult. Pinning your recipe to try it!
That was my reaction as well. I hope you give it a try, it’s so simple.
This reminds me of the first flatmates I had when I moved out of home. One of them had bought this cookbook that had a CD with it, so it was about mixing food with music. One of the recipes in the book was penne with vodka, which we all thought was incredibly exotic and definitely had to be made. Funnily enough I can’t remember what it tasted like, even though I remember the recipe and book. I haven’t actually thought about this for 15 years, so this is another great example of how food serves to help us remember events in our lives.
Great story!
Love love penne vodka!
Me, too. I feel like I’ve been deprived all my life! hahaha
This is such a great dish! And so easy to make. Yours is a terrific version — thanks so much.
Thanks John! I have it on the meal plan for tomorrow night 🙂
Yum! This looks so good! I love ALL things pasta, hence my blog name. Thank you for linking up at The Wednesday Round Up and we hope to see you back next week!
Thanks Emily. I enjoy the Wednesday Roundup, there’s always something interesting.