One of my favorite dishes to prepare is this one. My supervisor, who owned an actual Italian restaurant where I worked, taught me how to prepare this. I’ve been producing it for the past eight years and I simply cannot get enough of it!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
- 12 ounces canned San Marzano-style peeled plum tomatoes
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- ½ cup vodka
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Stir in penne and return to a boil. Cook pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes; drain. Transfer to a serving dish.
- Pour canned tomatoes into skillet over medium heat; stir in tomato sauce, vodka, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer sauce, stirring occasionally, until alcohol is completely cooked off, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer until heated through, about 5 more minutes. Remove sauce from heat.
- Pour sauce over penne pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- This sauce is not sweet, just so you know. Some people prefer it sweet but that’s not how this recipe is. Also, I recommend putting a teaspoon of sugar in the sauce to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 486 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 61 g |
| Cholesterol | 57 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 372 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I was searching for a San Marzano Vodka Sauce Recipe and found this on AllRecipes today for a way to use my new batch of San Marzano tomatoes from the garden and basil. This was the best batch of pasta sauce I have made with my garden gems. *Note, I followed the recipe to the “T”. The only change I made was using fresh garden tomatoes. I blanched about 3 Dozen ripe San Marzanos and immediately put them in a ice bath to cool. I just peeled the skins off and cut off vine ends. Followed the recipe and used the pulp from the tomatoes in place of tomato sauce. Perfect! Another tip if using fresh tomatoes…Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and add a 1/4 cup at a time while simmering to get a thicker sauce before adding heavy cream. Once the sauce was combined, I put mine in food processor to get a smoother consistency then added to the penne pasta. Tossed, covered and topped with parmesian when served. Cannot go wrong with this recipe, a gardener’s dream sauce! Thank you for sharing! Will definitely be one of my canning sauces this season!
Was looking for an easy Penne Vodka recipe. This tastes restaurant quality! Can’t wait to make it again!
This recipe was great! I didn’t have plum tomatoes so used a can of diced tomatoes instead but followed the rest of the recipe. Family of 4 loved it and my daughter actually used the leftover sauce as a dip for roasted broccoli the next day. Will definitely put this in the dinner rotation.
This was amazing! I sautéed prosciutto and white onions and added to the sauce as it was simmering, delicious!
yummy
it turned out well. the only thing was I didn’t let it simmer long enough so the vodka was l bit strong. next time I’ll know better.
I kicked it up a notched with some cherry peppers.
Very good recipe, enjoyed the flavor very much !
Added spinach and red pepper flakes.
Amazing taste. Easy to make!
Pretty Tasty!
Even my picky husband liked it! I usually include meat and veggies in my pasta sauce, so I first cooked about a lb of sweet Italian sausage and chopped up some raw asparagus and added them to the sauce. The meat made the sauce hardy and the asparagus added a bit of color and texture. If I don’t have asparagus next time I may throw in a handful of frozen peas. Thanks for this recipe.
I did add 1 lb. of fresh shelled/cleaned shrimp and the red pepper flakes. Very good, Thank for sharing!!
This is the best vodka sauce I’ve ever had, hands down! I used half and half instead of cream and the sauce was perfect. It didn’t make as much as I anticipated so next time I will double the recipe but I wouldn’t change anything else. Thank you for sharing!
I’ve made this dish twice. I followed the directions exactly. one time, I used plain canned tomatoes, the other time, as the recipe states, I used the San Marzano tomatoes. The difference is noticeable. Use the San Marzano to get this dish tasting perfect!
This was better after adding 2 tsp. of sugar. I also added some frozen turkey Italian meatballs and fresh parsley over the top.
Good base recipe. Adding just a pinch of cayenne helps, and add more if you’d like it spicier.
Terrific recipe, I made it exactly a called for with the Tsp of Sugar as well from the cook’s note! This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much for the great recipe!
This was heavenly! I altered it a little bit, using crushed tomatoes and adding a teaspoon of sugar. This recipe is definitely on my list of keepers! So delicious!
This was easy and delicious!I made some adjustments. I did not have San Marzano plum tomatoes so I used a can of crushed tomatoes. I doubled the garlic because I love garlic. I sauteed the garlic and spices in a little olive oil before adding the tomatoes to release all the flavors. I used fresh basil because I am growing it in my garden and have an abundance. I had light cream instead of heavy cream so that’s what I used. I added about a teaspoon of sugar as others had suggested and it was perfect!
I made this looking for a meatless vodka sauce recipe. It was very good but somewhat lacked flavor. Next time I would add some red pepper flakes, as suggested, and some olive oil.