Penne alla Vodka is a pasta dish very popular in Italy in the 80’s. The main ingredients for Vodka Sauce are tomatoes, cream and Vodka but it was pretty popular the addition of Pancetta or smoked salmon.
This recipe is very unconventional because cream is not used in traditional italian pasta dishes, above all it’s never used with tomatoes! For this reason Vodka is needful to emulsify the cream with tomatoes.
Now the recipe is still pretty popular in the United States and became an icon of the italian-american cuisine.
► SMOKED SALMON SUBSTITUTIONS: You can just skip it, or you can substitute it with Pancetta or Bacon. I’ve used Smoked Salmon because I think is the best match for this sauce (it was the most popular version in the 80’s) and for embrace the international spirit of this recipe.
► ORIGINAL SPAGHETTI CARBONARA:
► ORIGINAL SPAGHETTI AMATRICIANA:
► PASTA PESTO:
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Kitchen Tools Using In This Video:
Portable Induction Cooktop:
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INGREDIENTS
Make 4 servings:
8 g (1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter
80 g (about 2 slices) smoked salmon*
80 ml (1/3 cup) Vodka
500 g (1 pound) peeled canned whole tomatoes
200 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) cream (35% fat), room temperature
salt to taste
400 g penne pasta
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, or Parmesan cheese, grated
fresh parsley, chopped
*You can skip it or substitute it with Pancetta or Bacon.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut smoked salmon in medium size pieces and set aside.
2. Finely chop peeled canned tomatoes or puree it if you prefer a smoother sauce (is not needful to puree).
3. Place in a medium size bowl chopped tomatoes and the water tomatoes in the can (if your tomatoes haven’t water in the can, add about 1/2 cup of water). set aside.
4. In a large pan melt the butter at medium heat until very warm.
5. Add chopped salmon and stir. Cook about 2-3 minutes over medium heat until almost done but stil pink, soft and not brown.
6. If your heat is too high, low the heat and add Vodka (you can also turn off the heat when you add Vodka to avoid that alcool inflame if it touches the flame; not needful if you have an induction cooktop).
7. Reduce over medium heat for few time (about 2 minutes).
8. Add tomatoes, low the heat, cover with a lid and cook until become thick (for about 25 minutes).
9. Add cream and stir until well combined.
10. Reduce over low-medium heat for few minutes (the sauce will be creamy and runny, not too thick).
11. Cook pasta in salted boiling water.
12. Drain pasta when is very “al dente” and reserve its cooking water.
13. Add immediately drained hot pasta to the sauce and mix over medium heat.
14. Add some hot pasta’s cooking water to the sauce and mix until get the desired creamy consistency: the sauce will be not too runny, not watery, but not too thick.
15. Serve in a dish and top with some grated Parmigiano cheese and parsley.
16. Serve immediately when very hot.