Dish · italian
Pasta alla Vodka
Penne in a sauce of tomato, cream, and a splash of vodka, cooked long enough for most of the alcohol to burn off. The vodka is said to help bind the tomato and cream together.
Where it comes from
The dish likely developed in Italian-American restaurants in the mid-to-late 20th century rather than in Italy itself, though its exact first kitchen is unconfirmed. Vodka's role, cutting acidity and helping emulsify the sauce, made it a recognizable variation on tomato cream pastas.
What cooks argue about
Cooks argue over whether vodka does anything beyond emulsifying and adding a faint sharpness. The bigger technical split is cream simmered in early versus stirred in at the end to keep it from separating.
Versions
Nobody has published a pasta alla vodka here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
crushed tomatoes
heavy cream