Eating a delicious pasta, meat or salad accompanied by a well-made and tasty sauce is something that everyone likes, and you will hardly go wrong when preparing and serving some of these dishes.
The best-known sauces are tomato sauce and bechamel sauce because, from them, it is possible to create several other sauces, using these two as a base, such as a Bolognese sauce with tomato sauce or a cheese sauce, which uses bechamel as a base.
Each sauce has its consistency and its flavour, which makes each of them unique and tasty, however, if you know how to mix tomato sauce with bechamel sauce, you will have the fantastic rosé sauce, which is very versatile and easy to prepare the sauce.
And a delicious variation of rosé sauce, which was very popular in the 80s and has now returned with everything, conquering the heart and taste of many people, is vodka sauce.
And if you do not know or have never heard of this delicious and creamy sauce, it is more than time to learn and prepare it, since vodka sauce is delicious with any pasta, as well as with some types of meat, since it is a slightly acidic and at the same time somewhat fatty sauce.
Many people may find that this combination of acidity and fat in the same sauce will not work, but that’s precisely where the vodka comes in. It gives a unique flavour and provides the perfect balance and emulsion between acid and fatty.
In addition, pasta with vodka sauce can be considered a boiling dish and perfect for the coldest days, disposing of any accompaniment, because this recipe takes a good dose of pepper and, of course, vodka, which indeed serves to warm up!
How did vodka sauce come about
Several stories and controversies about the real origin of vodka sauce are most commonly served with penne and other short pasta. Still, nothing prevents you from serving with other types of pasta, such as long pasta.
One of the stories about its origin, refers to the 1974 cookbook of the Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi, in which it includes a penne pasta recipe served with a very spicy sauce (very much), which carried tomatoes, a dose of vodka, a lot of chilli pepper, garlic, oil and bay leaves.
Others say that penne ala vodka appeared in an Italian restaurant called Dante, located in Bologna, already others say that the inventor of this dish was James Doty.
Another Italian cookbook says that penne alla vodka was invented by a Roman chef in the 80s and that he made it at the request of a vodka company, which wanted to popularize its drink at the time.
But one thing that is Fact is that this dish, because it is hot and effortless to be prepared, was very much served in the Italian discos of the 80s, which helped make penne alla vodka more popular.
These are all the versions that revolve around the origin of the vodka sauce and the popular penne alla vodka, but it is impossible to say which one is the original, however, regardless, this dish is easy to prepare and very delicious!
How to prepare a delicious penne alla vodka
We come to the most delicious part of this article, a recipe for preparing a delightful penne alla vodka. I guarantee that everyone will like it and after you do it once, you will never stop doing it again!
Ingredient
400 gr penne pasta;
500 gr of a good tomato sauce(preferably a homemade Pomodoro);
150 gr of fresh sour cream or cream;
100 gr of bacon or pancetta cut into cubes;
Olive oil to sauté everything;
One large red pepper of your preference, with or without seeds, depends on the level of piquancy you like, but ideally, it will be very spicy;
80 ml of a good vodka;
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Preparation mode
First, you should put the pasta to cook in a large saucepan with plenty of boiling water and a good amount of salt until the water is well salted. The cooking time of the pasta is ideal so that it is al dente.
Now, in a giant frying pan that can then accommodate all the pasta, put a drizzle of olive oil and fry the bacon/pancetta cubes until they are well browned. After Browning, remove all the cubes and discard all the oil from the frying pan.
Return the cubes to the frying pan, and with the fire off, add the vodka, and with the help of a long match or with a stove lighter, put on fire the vodka inside the frying pan, to ignite.
If you do not feel confident inflaming the cubes with the vodka, just put everything on medium heat and wait until the alcohol is reduced. You should add the tomato sauce and the pepper you have chosen well chopped and let it cook for approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
Once done, you add the cream or fresh sour cream and cook for a couple of minutes, without boiling and stirring from time to time so that the sauce incorporates well, if it is too thick or thick, add a little cooking water penne.
Now, inside the saucepan, you should add the noodles and mix everything very well, until the sauce has wrapped all the dough and is ready to serve.
A wine that harmonizes very well with this recipe is some white wine made from the chardonnay grape, or a very delicate red like a Pinot Noir. This recipe for penne alla vodka will look even more divine if served with one of these wines.
You can also meet and enjoy these delicious varieties at American Pasta.
