This pasta dish with vodka sauce is incredibly easy to make and has a mouthwatering tomato base that will impress your dinner guests.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package dry penne pasta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 ounces prosciutto, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 (16 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup vodka
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Sauté prosciutto, garlic, and red pepper flakes in hot oil for 1 minute. Mix in tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in cream and vodka; simmer until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Stir Parmesan and basil into sauce until well combined. Season with salt. Add penne and toss until evenly coated.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 633 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 50 g |
| Cholesterol | 99 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Sodium | 1007 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
it became one of the favorite pasta recipe in my house. did not change anything
I made it exactly as described, but the prosciutto I think ruined the recipe. Didn’t seem like the flavor of that really went well with the other ingredients. Won’t be trying it this way again.
Came out horrible. Don’t know what happened. Taste too much vodka
This was wonderful! I did modify it slightly. I used scallops and shrimp instead of prosciutto because I have a favorite vodka penne recipe from a local restaurant that uses shrimp, scallops, and crabmeat. Based on other reviews I added the cheese after adding the penne pasta and upped the garlic. This is a definite keeper and super easy to make. Love it!!
Really good, 2 servings feeds 4, added crushed red pepper & a garlic clove
Turned out delicious
Super easy to make! I added extra heavy cream and grated cheese to make it a little thicker . I will definitely be making this again.
I’ve been making this recipe for almost 20 years now (or somewhere around there)! It’s so homey, easy breezy to make and the leftovers are even better the next day! So simple yet so delish! I sub 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes and always add a little more cream for extra sauce! Love it!!!
This was very good. I made it a second time and added a 1/2 cup of the shredded four cheese (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan and Romano) and 1/2 Tbl sugar. Turned out awesome. I made it a third time and substituted crushed tomatoes for the peeled and it still turned out great.
This was delicious but next time I will use pancetta. I don’t really like the smokiness of Prosciutto but everyone loved it
Came out EXCELLENT. Will for sure make again. Added fresh basil toward the end for some more flavor. Definitely making this one again and have already shared the recipe with family! Thanks!
This is some of the best penne with vodka sauce I have ever had! Restaurant quality!
Delicious will make it again.
I left out the ham and it still tasted great.
Basic recipe is wonderful and a keeper. I made this recipe as written and w/ two small modifications is a keeper for me. Next time, however, I’m going with 1/3 cup, not the recommended 1/2 cup of vodka, and will cook the penne about 2 minutes longer ( al dente is a must, but under done is under done).
I made this tonight and it definitely had a good flavor. I added extra red pepper flakes and a little bit of white onion. I will say that it only made enough sauce for about half the pasta so you will likely need to double your sauce recipe or half your pasta. I had already poured it over all the pasta when I realized it wasn’t enough and I had to make a second batch of sauce. You should also add your parmesan after removing from the heat because the cheese clumped a bit. Will likely make again.
This was great tasting..until I added the called for cup of Parmesan cheese. It became extremely salty! If I make it again, I will only garnish with the cheese.
Made this last night for dinner and my fiance said it was a keeper, and I agree. My only problems with it were that O didn’t quite understand using whole peeled tomatoes, it was unclear if I should just put them in as such, chop them, break then when they were in the sauce. In the end I left them whole in the sauce and then pulled them out at the end before tossing the pasta, which I used tortellini for. I think next time I’ll buy crushed. Also I would cut the pepper flakes by half, it was a little spicey for my taste. I did some chicken breast in a cast iron and added slices of it on top after plating.
I looooooooved this recipe. for some reason or another I always fail miserably at making vodka sauce, but this was beyond delicious. I added my own twist to it and used butter instead of oil. skipped the pepper flakes (children were going to eat this). I wanted it to be extra creamy so I added a little more heavy cream and also added cream cheese. I went a little overboard with the vodka, since I was making 3x the portion and it ended being on the stove for over 2 hours! BUT I think that brought out the flavors out even more… I was not happy with how watery it seemed so I did sift some flour into the sauce. in the end it came up great, there was an excellent balance of flavors, it tasted rich, creamy, and smooth. the sauce itself tasted great on its own!!!
I Followed this recipe and found it to be too watery and not very flavorful even when allowing to simmer 20 min after adding the cream sauce & vodka. Next time I’m straining off the canned tomatoes, removing the red pepper flake, reducing the basil and adding a touch of oregano.
The sauce tasted delicious, but was a little thin. Needs to be reduced longer than what the directions say. Other than that it was delicious and my family loved it.