Pasta Penne alla Vodka (Penne alla Vodka)

Category: Dishes from cereals and flour products

Kitchen: italian

Pasta Penne alla Vodka (Penne alla Vodka)

Ingredients
Penne Rigato Pasta	400 gr.
Canned Whole Tomatoes [San Marzano]	jar 400 gr.
Tomato paste	2 tbsp. l.
Olive oil	2 tbsp. l.
Butter 82%	60-80 gr.
Milk cream 33%	150-200 gr.
Vodka	75-100 gr.
Turnip onion	1 PC.
Garlic	2-3 teeth
Parmigiano Rigiano cheese	80 gr in sauce, and also for sprinkling to taste
Salt	1 tsp in the sauce and 1.5 tbsp. l. for pasta
Hot peppers, flakes	1 pinch
Freshly ground black pepper	2 pinches, to taste
Coarsely chopped parsley	2 tbsp. l.

Cooking method

Penne alla Vodka is a delicate penne pasta with a rich and tasty sauce of tomatoes, vodka and cream. Perfect for lovers of authentic Italian food! As the name suggests, this is a pasta dish traditionally made with vodka and penne. It is usually prepared using heavy heavy dairy cream, chopped tomatoes, onions, and sometimes meats such as sausage, ground beef, bacon, prosciutto, or guanchiale. This will be a lean recipe for now.
Looking ahead, I will say that you will not feel the smell or taste of vodka in the finished dish, take my word for it. Taste and smell - rich cheese-creamy tomato.
So why is VODKA all the same? In this recipe, vodka serves two important functions:
First, vodka greatly enhances tomato flavor and aroma. The point of vodka, or any alcohol in recipes, is to extract flavor components from ingredients that are not completely or poorly soluble in water or oil.
Secondly, vodka here acts as an emulsifier that will prevent curdling and turning into sour milk cream, which, during the cooking process, fall into a hot sweet and sour tomato environment.
Preparation
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil - let it gurgle slowly, waiting in the wings.

Dice a small onion and chop the garlic with a knife. You should not use a garlic press, as it can burn in a pan.

Pour olive oil into a wok and fry the onions and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onions become transparent and the smell of fresh onions and garlic disappears.

We open a jar of tomatoes and dump them into the pan. Using a spatula, break the tomatoes into small pieces without fanaticism. Add salt, a little red pepper flakes, to taste, and cook under a lid over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a spoon or two of good tomato paste for a more pronounced tomato flavor

Add 75-100 gr. good quality vodka (I have a relatively inexpensive Nemiroff Premium Deluxe). Mix the contents of the pan well. Do not cover the pan with a lid.

Add 80-100 grams of uncompromising quality butter 82% fat. Mix everything well.

Put 400 grams of pasta in boiling water. Add 150-200 grams of heavy cream to the pan and mix everything thoroughly. The sauce takes on a pink-rusty color. Without a lid, constantly stirring over low heat, boil the sauce for about 10 minutes.

After these 10 minutes, this pasta, as a rule, remains to be cooked until al dente for 4 minutes (the exact time is indicated on the package). It's time to add grated cheese, 80-100 grams, and a couple of pinches of black pepper to the pan, and dissolve it in the sauce over low heat, stirring. In general, they usually use either Parmesan or Grano Padano, but I grated on a fine, aged Spanish Sheep Cheese, Manchego, with a pleasant mild taste and aftertaste.

That's it, the sauce is ready.We collect a cup of hot water from a saucepan with pasta, just in case. We drain the water, put the pasta in a frying pan, and on the lowest heat mix the finished feathers very carefully in the sauce, so that the sauce not only envelops each feather, but also gets inside each feather. While stirring, add the coarsely chopped parsley leaves. If the sauce is very thick and everything turns out a little dry, then add a cup of pasta water to the pan and continue stirring until a sufficient consistency of the contents of the pan is achieved.

Put the pasta on plates, sprinkle with grated Parmesan to taste. The pasta turned out to be so vegetarian, but I will have a big delicious fried-baked juicy pork neck steak with it, and a glass of good vodka - well, friends, it's not a sin to miss one glass on a cold autumn Saturday evening with such a gorgeous snack!

The dish is designed for

4 servings

Time for preparing:

about 30 - 40 minutes

Note

TIPS FOR PENNE ALLA VODKA
1. Make sure you let the sauce simmer long enough for the alcohol to evaporate at least 25-30 percent. If you cook the sauce quickly, you can get a harsh aftertaste from alcohol. Trust your nose while the sauce is cooking! If you are unsure about your nose, use less alcohol.
2. This dish is great as it is, but you can add other ingredients to make it standalone, such as sausage, meatballs, zucchini, mushrooms or olives. This sauce is perfect for gnocchi, ravioli and tortellini. There is no strict recipe for this sauce, and the recipe allows wide variations in ingredients and preparation procedure.
3. You can make this sauce the day before you plan to use it. Just reheat it on the stove while your pasta is cooking, then stir and serve.
4. Is there a non-alcoholic vodka equivalent for this recipe? - In short, no.
5. What can be used instead of vodka? - Another vodka! The Italians here and there advise using vodka with pepper in this sauce, and I think that next time I will try this with our traditional Ukrainian "Gorilka with pepper". Other spirits can be used and will work, but they can give you an unexpected off-flavor that you may not like. Vodka is neutral here.
6. Does this paste still contain alcohol? - Undoubtedly. Let's calculate approximately. From 100 grams of vodka, 30-40 percent is evaporated. That is, 60-70 grams of alcohol remains. This is for four servings, that is, for one full serving - and this is not a small amount of pasta - about 15-17 grams. Do you feel bad from such a dose? - Urgently drink a hearty Corvalola! Place 50 drops, dilute with water, and drink. Have you drunk? - I congratulate you - you drank a dose of alcohol exceeding 15 grams of vodka! However, I repeat, you don't smell this alcohol in a properly prepared pasta.
7. Basil leaves can be used for decoration. But for me personally, the intense smell of basil somewhat interrupts the aromatic tomato-creamy smell of this paste, so I usually limit myself to parsley.

The history of the origin of this recipe is, as usual, shrouded in mystery. It is believed that this pasta was first prepared by the Neapolitan Luigi Fransese in the 1970s in a restaurant in New York, proudly calling his dish "penne alla Russa". There are many other versions of the origin of this dish, the peak of its popularity came in the 80s of the last century. This recipe embodies the spirit of those years: it is quite quick and easy to make, with an exquisite appearance and a touch of exotic. It was then served in almost all restaurants in Italy, and in Italian restaurants in the United States. After several decades of popularity, this pasta has gone out of fashion since the late 20th century. The renaissance of Penne alla Vodka took place on October 25, 2016 on the occasion of the Word Pasta Day organized in Russia. During the event, Valentino Bontempi, the most famous Italian chef in Russia, presented a personal variation of Penne alla Vodka pasta to represent the Italian delegation.

In conclusion, we can say that this is not at all a "male" dish, as one might assume. Most of the recipes for this pasta, published in the Italian and American segments of the Internet, belong to women - chefs and bloggers who admire the taste of this dish with admiration. Try this recipe at least once - it may also win your hearts!