About The Best Penne alla Vodka Recipe
It’s officially a new year (Happy New Year, by the way!) and I’m bringing you one of my all-time favorite dishes:
The BEST penne alla vodka recipe I’ve managed to stumble across.
Yes, I did say the BEST – or at least, in my humble opinion, it is.
A little backstory: The Husband and I love finding restaurants that not only have good food (my requirement) but also good service (his requirement). We’ve lived in the area long enough that we have a short list of favorite establishments, and one of those restaurants was an absolutely perfect hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant. The food was always amazingly good (so I was happy) and the wait staff treated us like royalty, serving us complimentary garlic bread when we showed up and free shots of limoncello before we left (so he was happy).
But then the unthinkable happened: the owner moved to Virginia, leaving the fate of the restaurant in his parent’s care.
However, “care” isn’t really the word I would use to describe it, because once his parents had the reigns they quickly began changing everything we’d grown to love about the restaurant over the past three years.
The menu was kept the same, but they fired all the chefs and hired cheaper (ie less seasoned) chefs to work in the kitchen.
They also swapped out all the wait staff from the charming older gentlemen we had come to know to young girls who apparently couldn’t care less about anything other than who was texting them on their phones.
It was a downright mess, and we went from visiting this restaurant a couple times a month to only braving the experience three times in the past year.
Usually, we would just chalk this up to the end of an era and work on finding another Italian restaurant to call our own… but there was only one problem: this restaurant still held the secret to my all-time favorite vodka sauce. Thankfully the new chefs were able to prepare it the same way as they did under the son’s ownership, but with the quality of service going down like it did, I was no longer able to convince The Husband to accompany me to get my vodka sauce fix.
I found myself going months without my beloved vodka sauce, and you know what? I couldn’t take it. The foodie in me was rebelling (and kicking and crying and screaming).
So I did the only thing I could do: I made it my mission to find a suitable vodka sauce replacement.
I began searching on Google and Pinterest and even Facebook, hoping to find some vodka sauce expert on the interwebs that could lead me on the path to culinary glory…. but in the end, every last one of them failed me harder than Starscream (please tell me you got that reference!) I can’t tell you how many recipes I tried that claimed they were “restaurant quality” but ended up tasting more like tart marinara than my beloved vodka sauce. I was beginning to lose hope.
… That is, until I stumbled across the true secret. Good vodka sauce does not use plain old tomato sauce or paste, and you should turn your nose up at anyone who tells you otherwise (Pioneer Woman, I’m looking at you!) So that being said, what should you be using for quality alla vodka? Italian tomatoes. You can use canned, and if they’re not already with the canned veggies in your grocery store then they’re typically with the international and/or Italian foods. This is what you need to buy for excellent vodka sauce. No exceptions.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
The flavor was spot on, with just enough tomato to give the sauce a kick and yet not so much that it completely overpowered the cream and the hint of simmered vodka. I made this with penne, but I can’t wait to try it on gnocchi and ravioli and… well, pretty much anything that’s good with sauce. Now that I can have this sauce multiple times a month again, I plan to get creative!
I’m sure we’ll still visit our once-favorite Italian restaurant once in a while, since they do still have fantastic sangria and limoncello. But if the cravings get to be too much, I might just have to crack the recipes for those, too!
notes & tips for this penne vodka recipe
- You’ll need a trusty food processor for this penne vodka recipe. I bought the Ninja Blender System almost 10 years ago and it hasn’t failed me yet!
- As mentioned in this post, this recipe needs italian tomatoes. Trust me, I made the mistake of thinking that the type of tomato didn’t matter and I ruined our dinner because of it. The only way to get that “true” taste of a vodka sauce is to use Italian tomatoes.
- Looking for more Italian recipes? Be sure to check out Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana, Baked Spaghetti Casserole, Meatball Sub Casserole, Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, Baked Italian Sausage Ravioli, Creamy Italian Baked Eggs, Cheesy Spaghetti Stuffed Peppers, Easy Cheesy Manicotti, and Creamy Pesto Shrimp Pasta.
Recipe Details
Penne alla Vodka
Ingredients
Instructions
Prepare penne per package instructions. Drain pasta and set aside.
While pasta cookes, add Italian tomatoes (and their liquid) to a food processor and pulse until sauce is smooth. Set aside.
Add extra-virgin olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic to skillet and cook until garlic is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
Slowly pour tomato sauce into skillet, stirring to incorporate with the oil. Add red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let sauce simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add vodka to tomato sauce and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes.
- Add butter to sauce and stir until melted.
- Pour in heavy cream and parmesan cheese, stirring sauce well.
- Fold in cooked penne pasta. If desired, continue to cook pasta for another 5 minutes so sauce clings to pasta.
- Serve pasta immediately with extra parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley as garnish.
Recipe Notes
Recipe lightly adapted from Epicurious.
Nutrition
I was literally looking for a delicious vodka penne recipe this weekend!! This one looks so delicious! I’m pinning this for later!
Good timing then! 😀 Hopefully this recipe has the flavor you were hunting for.
My mouth is watering…and now I want pasta for lunch! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I love that it’s a homemade sauce. We will definitely be adding this to our recipe rotation.
Thanks Amber!
Amazing photos…This is a must make!
Thank you Christie!
Love it! And it’s my favorite thing to order at an Italian restaurant.
Perfect! If you make it, I hope it measures up to what you’re used to ordering 😀
I love cooking at home but good restaurant meals too. This is like the best of both worlds! Looks pretty simple too.
Thanks Matt! 😀
This looks SO good! Love the photos too!
Thanks Stephanie! 😀
this looks hands down amazing. I want a big, big bowl!
Thank you Nicole! 😀
Gorgeous dish dear! I love vodka sauce!
Thank you Lauren! 😀
Thank you Chrisy for sharing this recipe with the public! I have owned 2 Italian restaurant’s in my life. This recipe is spot on! It’s just amazing to me that there are so many pre made sauces in grocery stores these days. most all of them have a list of seasonings and who knows what kind of tomato’s. The essence of Italian food is simple fresh ingredients. just a quick note. There many good Italian plum tomato’s out their. But you are correct in using San Marzano brand. They are the best. But people read the can good. Some brands will say San Marzano style tomato’s. Make sure you read; Imported from Italy! Crisy, very good job! Only one thing I did different was to garnish with fresh basil instead of parsley. Just a personal preference. Thanks again!
Hey RJ! Thanks for writing in 🙂 I’ll have to try it with basil next time, AND keep an eye out for the “imported from Italy” marker 😀 Great tips!
While reading it m thinking “If I have all the ingredients in my kitchen ?”. The recipe is absolutely amazing.
Amazing flavors… followed to the tee. It was fantastic. Thank you!
Thanks for writing in, JP! I’m so glad you liked it 😀
Made it tonight! Be-yootiful! Easy. Tasty. Love it! Thanks Chrisy!
I’m going to make this today for my mom for Mother’s Day! It’s her favorite dish. Can I make the sauce in a crockpot? Thanks!
Hello…..just wondering if this could be made up the day before and then reheated and served?
Thank you….your recipe looks delish.
Do you have any experience making this the day before and heating it up in the oven just before serving? Also have you every doubled or tripled the recipe? Thank you. Looks delish. Can’t wait to try it.
Hey Jul! I know I’ve heated up the leftovers, and they were good – but they were still leftovers. That being said, the way I had it the pasta and sauce were already mixed. I think if you could store it separately and then mix the pasta and sauce before serving it might be better. Also, I’ve only ever made this recipe to the serving listed.
Italian tomatoes (and their liquid)? Does this mean canned tomatoes or fresh? What exactly are Italian tomatoes?
Hey Liz! This recipe refers to the canned Italian tomatoes (which is why the recipe states to use the tomatos + liquid in the can). You can see an example of them here: http://amzn.to/2gR9Dmu
Thanks for the recipe. It was delicious! Just what I wanted.
Can I substitute half-and-half for the heavy cream ?
I am planning on making this for my son’s bday party. I will take your suggestion of storing both things separately so I mixed them right before serving, with that being said. Would you happen to know if i can add prosciutto to the sauce? Do you have any suggestions of what I could serve this with?
Thank you,
Does really have to have vodka in it?