Chianti in Your Glass, Vodka in the Sauce.
Vodka sauce. You’ve probably heard of it, maybe you’ve ordered it in a restaurant, or even bought it in a jar to eat at home. But here’s the thing—you haven’t really had vodka sauce until you’ve made it yourself at home. Nothing compares to the lusciously creamy pink sauce that this vodka sauce recipe yields. Garlic, pancetta, and freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese are a flavor-giving triple-threat that make this classic Italian American pasta sauce recipe transcendently good.
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What is Vodka Sauce?
An American original—nope, it’s not authentically Italian in the slightest!—the origins of penne alla vodka are a bit murky. But, we know for sure that it burst onto the American food scene sometime in the late 1960s or early ‘70s. At the time, vodka was soaring in popularity, and some genius chef—there’s no agreement about who it was—realized that vodka’s boozy sharpness served as a perfect foil for the sweetness of cooked tomatoes and heft of heavy cream and thus a cozy, comforting, perfectly-balanced Italian-American recipe was born. We think of vodka sauce as fresh tomato sauce’s wintery cousin—a little heavier, and more suited for the cold weather months, when we need a little edible comfort in our bowls. And, considering this recent and rather opaque history, we feel extra confident making the claim that our recipe is a 100% authentic vodka sauce recipe!
Let’s Talk Pasta!
You can serve this easy vodka sauce with any pasta you love, but we especially like it with the smaller shapes. Penne alla vodka is classic, but we also love it with:
- Rigatoni! Look for the kind with ridges—they help the sauce to stick to the pasta.
- Fusilli! These twisty little corkscrews are our kids’ favorite, and we think they’re pretty fun, too.
- Farfalle! AKA bowtie pasta! Pasta sauce clings well to this fun-to-eat pasta shape, too.
How to Make Vodka Sauce
Homemade vodka sauce just cannot be beat. It’s fast, and such a hit every time. If you’re worried about the vodka in the sauce, don’t be! With just 1/2 a cup of vodka in the sauce and a 30-minute simmer time, the alcohol will be completely cooked out of the sauce before serving. Here’s how to make our easy vodka sauce:
- Brown the onions and pancetta (or bacon, in a pinch!). When the pancetta is crispy, add a little garlic. OK, actually, we want you to add a lot of garlic.
- Booze time! Pour in the vodka and tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you go. You’ve got open vodka now, so you might as well make a martini. Olive or twist? Well, that’s up to you. Better crank that Rat Pack playlist—you know, for inspiration.
- Simmer! Now that you’ve got the sauce going and that martini stirred, go take a load off. You’ve got 30 minutes to chill.
- Finish the sauce with a bunch of parm, heavy cream, and salt to taste. Then, mangia!
Pasta Night!
In our house, pasta night comes more than once a week. We especially love these classic Italian-American pasta recipes—crowd pleasers, one and all:
- Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
- Three Ingredient Tomato Sauce
- Baked Penne Alla Vodka
- Easy Bolognese
- Baked Gnocchi
Tools You’ll Need:
Mambo Italiano
We hope this easy vodka sauce recipe puts a spring in your step and is a hit in your home! If you make it, let us know! Snap a photo, and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see it and share. Happy eating!
