Penne with Pink Vodka Sauce

By John, 25 February, 2025
Region
New York City
Description

"Penne with pink vodka sauce"This was developed in New York City in 1967 and it became an instant classic. It is usually served with penne pasta, but any short pasta works well, rigatoni is also common.

You might wonder: Why vodka? It has so little flavor, what can it contribute to this rich combination of tomatoes, cream, and cheese? This sauce is a bright tomato sauce with the richness and color from the cream. But cream dulls the tomato, so we need to punch up the flavor. A generous dose of doppio tomato paste helps to attain this worthy goal. Then the vodka seems to brighten it up, to help the acidity of the tomatoes break through the richness of the cream and cheese. You don't see many tradition Italian sauces that include both tomatoes and cream; maybe it was this innovation that opened up a new option.

Yield
6 Servings
Ingredients
3 T Butter (Unsalted)
1 yellow onion (diced)
3 clv Garlic (thinly sliced)
1 pn Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
4 1⁄2 oz Double tomato paste (or a 6 oz can of tomato paste)
14 1⁄2 oz canned whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano if possible)
1 c Heavy Cream
16 oz Penne Rigate (or other short pasta)
2 oz Fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (more or less to suit the tastes of your diners)
1⁄4 c Vodka
Instructions
  1. Put the pasta water on to boil.
  2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and cook the onion until golden.
  3. Add the garlic and cook until soft and aromatic.
  4. Stir in the pepper flakes and the tomato paste and blend well.
  5. Add the tomatoes, crushing them roughly between your fingers. They don't have to be crushed fine, because you will put it in a food processor in a little while.
  6. Add the cream and stir it until the color is even and the sauce is heated through. 
  7. Boil the pasta.
  8. While the pasta cooks, use an immersion blender or put the sauce in a food processor to blend it smooth.
  9. Return the sauce to the saucepan and get it good and hot. Stir in the fresh-grated cheese and melt it into the sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
  10. Remove from heat and stir in the vodka.
  11. Drain the pasta and mix it up in a big bowl with half of the sauce. Serve the rest of the sauce on the side, with more fresh grated cheese and crushed chili pepper if you like.
Notes

Grating the cheese with a microplane makes it very fine and fluffy so it melts quickly into the sauce. 

You can make this without the cheese and it's still delicious, but my usual diners for this really like it.

You can get the double tomato paste at Italian markets. I get it at Lo Adoro in Sandwich.