Pasta alla Vodka

Hi everybody! From time to time, I cook Carbonara, Amatriciana, etc at home, so I couldn’t resist trying pasta alla vodka.

Even though it’s considered an Italian-American dish, Wikipedia still says it originally came from Rome and became popular in the US later. So I’d be really glad to hear any criticism or comments here.

Personally, I don’t really see why it couldn’t be considered Italian: it’s basically a slightly modified tomato sauce, using vodka instead of wine for deglazing, changing the taste of the fat/oil used. Any comments are very welcome!

I saw different variations online: some use olive oil, some don’t. But I really love the taste of guanciale, so I couldn’t help adding it.

Here’s what I did for 2 portions:

1. I seared 80 g guanciale until the fat rendered out and a crust formed on all sides. I usually cut it into small ~1 cm strips so that the pieces stay tender inside, which makes them especially enjoyable to chew. Once it was ready, I removed the guanciale from the pan.
2. I added crushed black pepper directly to the rendered fat to increase the aroma.
3. I added 50 g onion to the fat and fried it for about 4 minutes.
4. I added 1 garlic clove (~4g) and ~1 g crushed chilli flakes (~half a teaspoon), and fried them for about 30 seconds.
5. I added 20 g tomato paste and fried it for about 30 seconds.
6. I added 60 ml vodka and let it evaporate for about 1 minute.
7. At that point, I started boiling the pasta in salted water. This time I used fusilli, but penne, rigatoni, and even spaghetti work as well. I had only fusilli at home, but because of their shape, the sauce sticks to them perfectly.
8. I added 200 ml passata and let the sauce simmer while the pasta was boiling. I added a little more vodka at this stage to increase the aroma/taste of alcohol. Yes, it’s definitely a matter of taste, but I like to keep a bit of that note; otherwise, it almost completely disappears after adding the cream. You can skip this extra vodka if you want to.
9. I added 5 g sugar. If you use fresh tomatoes or a sour passata, I’d strongly recommend it, otherwise, you can skip it.
10. About 1 minute before the pasta was ready, I lowered the heat under the sauce and added 80 g of 30% cream. I think 20% cream would also work, but you need to warm it gently and probably remove the pan from the heat to avoid curdling while mixing everything together. I heated it for about 1 minute on 3/9.
11. I added the pasta to the sauce, then added about 100 ml pasta water to emulsify and thicken the sauce.
12. I added 40 g Pecorino Romano. I think Parmigiano Reggiano would also work well, but I liked Pecorino here. Moreover, it’s saltier, so it helps avoid adding extra salt. If you decide to skip the cheese completely, I’d recommend tasting the sauce and adding salt if necessary.
13. After serving, I added the guanciale back on top. Some people (who use them in this dish) add it directly to the sauce, but I don’t like that, because I love it crispy. Otherwise, it might become soggy like you boiled it. If you want, you can add 50% to the sauce and save 50% for topping, for aesthetics.

I’d be really glad to hear any comments or recommendations on how I could improve the recipe or to know how you would cook it!