This is more an American-Italian recipe than an Italian-American one. I found myself making this innovative dish, which always charmed our customers, quite a bit in the early 1970s.
As simple a dish as this is, I have had requests for it in all my restaurants as far back as I can remember: I like the sauce a little feisty, so I'm generous with the crushed red pepper. You can add as much — or as little — as you like.
Often, restaurant chefs finish this dish by swirling butter into the sauce at the end. You can do the same, or use olive oil to finish the sauce. I prefer olive oil, but I probably don't have to tell you that by now.
Ingredients
6 servings
Step 1
Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat.
Step 2
Pour the tomatoes and their liquid into the work bowl of a food processor. Using quick on/off pulses, process the tomatoes just until they are finely chopped. (Longer processing will aerate the tomatoes, turning them pink.)
Step 3
Stir the penne into the boiling water. Bring the water back to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until done, 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and add them to the hot oil. Cook, shaking the skillet, until the garlic is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Lower the work bowl with the tomatoes close to the skillet and carefully — they will splatter — slide the tomatoes into the pan. Bring to a boil, season lightly with salt and generously with crushed red pepper, and boil 2 minutes. Pour in the vodka, lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, and simmer until the pasta is ready.
Step 5
Just before the pasta is done, fish the garlic cloves out of the sauce and pour in the cream. Add the 2 tablespoons butter or oil, if using, and swirl the skillet to incorporate into the sauce. If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring to coat the pasta with sauce. Check the seasoning, adding salt and red pepper if necessary. Sprinkle the parsley over the pasta and boil until the sauce is reduced enough to cling to the pasta.
Step 6
Remove the pot from the heat, sprinkle 3/4 cup of the cheese over the pasta, and toss to mix. Serve immediately, passing additional cheese if you like.
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Reviews (273)
Back to TopSBROWNCOOKING - I doubt you will see this, but next time just add a bit of sugar to help cut the acidity.
Rachel G
Houston, TX
12/5/2022
Looks so good .
Nanbrockett
Baldwin NY
12/24/2020
Very good...I added a pinch or two of sugar. I showered the plates with chopped basil and oregano from my garden.
stephaniefoerst
Fort Worth, TX
9/6/2020
我为我的家人和我们的三倍l love it. I use two teaspoons of hot red pepper flakes and that brings enough heat to the dish to give it the zing my family loves. I've started to experiment with additions to make it a one-pot main course and so far I've used the same spices on some boneless pork chops that I grilled ahead of time and thinly sliced and added right at the end. I've also added sliced portabella mushrooms and that worked well. Adding artichoke hearts is next on the experiment list. This is a good recipe on it's own and it provides a solid foundation for chiefs to experiment and fine tune the flavors.
wtfo
Hanover, MD
8/29/2020
Absolutely loved this. Went the lazy route and started with tomato passata but other than that followed the recipe as written. The sauce tastes similar to other tomato sauces but has a certain je ne sais quoi from the vodka and cream.
c_fulgham9222
Vancouver, BC
6/24/2020
I hate this recipe for so many reasons. I bought the San Marzano brand and it was so gosh darn acidic I cooked it and added water and cooked it and added water and that just wouldn't cook out so I ended up with thick acidic tomato which made making this dish take half the day. Additionally, each time I ate this dish it gave me the worst heartburn and I almost never get heartburn. To boot I had left overs for days. There's a restaurant nearby that has great vodka sauce dish but this recipe just makes me angry. I am happy for those that this dish worked out well for. Usually the ratings on this site are more reliable than anywhere else I've found so I don't know where things went so wrong but I give this an F-.
SBrownCooking
6/6/2020
Made exactly as written, and it was exactly what I hoped it would be. The perfect penne a la vodka.
Anonymous
Manhattan
4/5/2020
I’m not usually a fan of Lidia’s recipes because many have not turned out well for me, but this one was EXCELLENT! I used a large can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of diced tomatoes (which is what I had in my pantry) and my family loved it. It’s definitely a keeper!
lhulmes
Warminster, PA
2/1/2020
This is one of our go to recipes. Everyone loves it, a family favorite.
jenn3770
Leawood, Ks
11/9/2019
This was amazing- perfect consistency and quite flavorful exactly as written. Highly recommend using butter to finish it.
lcantoni
MA
7/11/2019
Not bad. But not amazing either. The sauce was too thin and I felt the flavor just wasn't there or bold enough. If I were to make it again I'd pour off the liquid (or most of it) from the tomatoes and add oregano, basil, pepper, and maybe a lot more garlic to the sauce. The cream was a nice touch. I may use that in my normal sauce.
Francus
Charlotte, NC
3/18/2019
我认为这是乏味的。我是tempted to add some chopped onion, but wanted to give the original recipe a shot before making any tweaks. I'm so glad I did! This was perfect as is. I used San Marzano tomatoes, so that may have helped. I also kept the garlic cloves in the sauce, rather than fishing them out. I didn't mind, since the softened garlic cloves were deliciously sweet. Anyway, this was a good reminder to stay true to a recipe sometimes!
cheching
Toronto, ON
8/10/2018
Easy and delicious. Browned 4 diced cloves of garlic with some prosciutto, and used basil instead of parsley. Adults and kids said it was a keeper!
lccmalone
Paris, France
11/21/2017
This has been a family favorite for years (with the addition of 1/4 lb of pancetta and using 1 generous Tbsp. crushed garlic, left in--rather than the 10 cloves removed), but I recently made an accidental discovery. I was in a hurry and forgot to add the cream, and the end result was actually even tastier! The cream smoothes out some of the garlicky-ness, so leaving it out gives you a brighter, more garlicky dish where the acid from the tomatoes also stands out better. I'm not one to shy away from butter or cream, but in this case the omission actually improves the flavors (at least for a garlic lover like me!)
sitagaki
8/27/2017
This recipe is perfect. I have made it several times and it is always delicious. Lidia is a classic Italian cook. I am myself Italian and the flavors are simple. There is no need for doctoring it up as some reviews have claimed. I do think that the pancetta or bacon is a nice addition. You just need to saute it first before the garlic. I remove the bits and then use some of the bacon fat to add later. Use good quality whole tomatoes for the sauce, and this will come out great. You can even mash them up with your hands if you don't have a processor. It is important to cook aldente as the pasta dose cook once placed in the steaming sauce. Enjoy!
marissalouise22
Connecticut
8/10/2017
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