Penne Alla Vodka
This Penne Alla Vodka is rich, creamy and outrageously delicious. Better still, it's so quick and easy to make!
Servings: 4
Cost: £3 / $4
Equipment
- Large Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Large Pot & Colander
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 14oz / 400g Penne (can sub Rigatoni)
- 4oz / heaping 1/3cup / 120g Good Quality Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
- 1 1/4 cup / 300ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
- 3/4 cup / 60g freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/2 cup / 120ml Vodka (see notes)
- 1 small White Onion, very finely diced (see notes)
- 3 cloves of Garlic, minced/finely diced
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes
- small Fresh Basil Leaves, to serve (or large torn leaves)
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp olive oil and the diced onion to a large pan over low-medium heat. Gently fry to sweat down the onion until it begins to soften (important to go fairly low and slow to sweeten the onions). Add in the garlic and fry for another minute or so, then add chilli flakes and fry for a further minute.
- Turn the heat up to medium and add the tomato puree. Stir and fry for a few mins until it starts catching on the pan. It's important to fry the paste so it caramelizes and sweetens. Pour in the vodka and deglaze the pan with your wooden spoon. Allow to bubble away for 5mins to burn off the alcohol. The pungent smell of alcohol should fade away and the paste should re-thicken close to what it was before.
- At this point pop the pasta to heavily salted water and cook until al dente. Once cooked, drain the pasta over a bowl or saucepan to collect all of the starchy water it's cooked in.
- Meanwhile, pour the cream into the pan and stir until it incorporates with the paste. Allow to gently simmer for 5 or so mins until the sauce begins to thicken. Sprinkle in parmesan and stir until it melts, then check for seasoning/spice and adjust if needed. The sauce should be fairly thick at this point.
- Add the drained pasta along with 1/2cup/120ml of the starchy pasta water. Turn the heat to low and stir until the sauce clings nicely to the pasta. If you need to add more pasta water to thin the sauce out do so, if you go slightly overboard just simmer and stir until the sauce reduces and thickens.
- Serve with small or torn basil leaves!
Video
Notes
a) Vodka - Back in the day I'd have told you there's a huge difference in quality/price of vodka, but nowadays I'm fairly clueless. The most recent time I made this was with a super cheap brand and it still tasted delicious. Most (if not all) of the alcohol burns off so the taste is fairly mellow in all cases. Grab something nice if you can but certainly don't break the bank!
i) How do I tone down the vodka taste in vodka sauce?
If you've got an overwhelming taste of vodka you just haven't burnt off enough of the alcohol. In such case just continue simmering the sauce to reduce down the alcohol. The longer you simmer the less powerful the vodka will be. Use your starchy pasta water if you need to thin out the sauce in order to do this.
b) Onion - You mainly want the flavour of the onion, not so much the texture. Hence why I recommend dicing it as finely as you can. It's also important to slowly sweat down the onions to bring out their natural sweetness. This helps balance out the acidity of the tomato/vodka.
c) Starchy Water - This is a crucial ingredient, so don't skip it. It's important to make sure your pasta water is heavily seasoned so you don't dilute the flavour of the sauce. I also recommend not overfilling the pot with water. The more water there is the less starchy it'll be. It's the starch that helps emulsify the fats in the sauce and create a silky/creamy texture.
d) Leftovers - Keep leftovers tightly sealed in the fridge for 3-4 days. KEEP YOUR STARCHY PASTA WATER. To reheat just simmer over low heat, using your pasta water to thin it out as needed.
e) Additions - I tend not to add herbs to the sauce, I find it distracting. Fresh basil at the end works nicely, but if you love basil you could simmer some in the sauce too. If you want to add meat I recommend pancetta, prosciutto or bacon. About 5oz/150g should suffice. Fry with the onions to render down the fat until nice and crispy.
f) Calories - whole recipe divided by 4. Calories for one portion.
Nutrition
Calories: 770kcal | Carbohydrates: 91.59g | Protein: 15.62g | Fat: 32.85g | Saturated Fat: 17.382g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.405g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.719g | Trans Fat: 0.166g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 382mg | Potassium: 707mg | Fiber: 12.6g | Sugar: 6.31g | Vitamin A: 1659IU | Vitamin C: 9.3mg | Calcium: 223mg | Iron: 2mg