the best Penne Ala Vodka

prep time:: 10 minutes
total time:: 30 minutes

A lot of sauce

I pretty much lived off of this recipe towards the end of my college career. It’s easy, fast and inexpensive! You can store the sauce up to a week and make a quick dinner in less than 10 minutes. Warning: Extremely addictive.

ingredients

1/2 pint of heavy or light cream
1 smallest can of tomato paste
1 smallest can of tomato sauce
1 large onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/3 cup of quality vodka
Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Box of penne cooked, al dente

directions

1
Coat the bottom of a saucepan with the olive oil. Saute the onions over medium heat. When the onions are soft, toss in the minced garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
2
Carefully, pour in the vodka. Let the alcohol cook out of the vodka for about 5 minutes. Then, crank up the heat to high and pour in the cream. The cream will start to bubble and double in volume. Before it overflows, turn down the heat to a low-medium flame.
3
Stir in half the can of tomato paste and half the can of tomato sauce. If you prefer a pinker sauce, this should be enough. If you prefer a redder sauce, stir in more tomato sauce. Toss in the chopped parsley and stir for another 10-15 minutes. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.
4
Serve the sauce over penne or any pasta of choice. Sprinkle lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and dig in!
5
*Saute diced pancetta with the onion for an extra, meaty bite.