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.
Nobody has published a pasta alla vodka recipe yet. The page stays out of search until one exists, which is the rule for every thin page here.