There were no leftovers after I served this pink vodka sauce at my niece’s baptism, which was a big success. Crushed red pepper flakes, black olive slices, and roasted red pepper strips are optional components. The cheese of your choosing can be used in place of the mozzarella.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 7 |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package dry penne pasta
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 cup vodka
- 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 pint heavy cream
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
- In a large skillet, sauté garlic in butter. Add vodka and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in tomatoes and cheese; stir until cheese melts. Stir in heavy cream and heat thoroughly. Mix the sauce into hot pasta.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 728 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 66 g |
| Cholesterol | 125 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 23 g |
| Sodium | 484 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 38 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The recipe was easy to make, however I felt that the flavor was lacking. It tasted more like raw tomatoes and not as rich of a flavor as I would have liked and compared to other vodka sauces I have had before.
I think this dish is awesome. I made per the recipe except, I used milk instead of cream as store was out. I made my own fresh fetticini for the first time. Rave reviews of both.
FlavorlessToo much of a tomato flavor and not enough of other flavors. Bland
I moved out of NJ 10 years ago and none of the Italian restaurants I’ve visited west of the Mississippi know how to make vodka sauce!! I finally decided I should give it a try. This recipe is good but with some enhancements. I added a dash of oregano, dash of basil, onion flakes (maybe two tbl worth) and fresh ground pepper. I also used 1 cup of shredded parmesan instead of mozzarella (I didn’t have mozzarella at the house). I only used 1/2 cup of vodka. After checking other vodka sauce recipes that called for anywhere between 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of vodka, I figured 1/2 cup would work. Some reviews on here said 1 cup was a little too potent. I also only used 3 tbl of butter, again just based on other recipes that called for no more than 1 or 2 tbl of butter. The sauce turned out INCREDIBLE. My husband was and is still raving about it. Thanks for this recipe!
I have made this a few times and I absolutely love it…Have made it for a few parties and people rave about it
Great quick recipe…. I halved all ingredients except the garlic, added some dried basil, oregano and rosemary. And topped with tick slices of fresh mozzarella. Then baked I oven at 250 .
Did not taste vodka at all. Had to put lots of salt and peppers to season it.
This was too runny. Next time I will add ricotta or more mozzarella but it sure tasted great!!
Easy and excellent! Great weeknight meal. It makes a double batch of sauce so love having extra for later in the week. Also added seasonings as others recommended.
Really good! Scaled recipe to 1/4 by using a 15 oz can of whole plum tomatoes with their juice pureed in a blender and dividing everything else by 4. I added 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning and 1/4 tsp salt. Sauce was delicious, no single flavor dominated, couldn’t single out the vodka. The consistency was perfect for me, once the mozzarella melted in it thickened up and the cream made it just right. Rich, creamy and delicious. Ha, ha, served it on bow tie pasta. Will make again soon, try a whole batch of sauce and freeze it in usable portions. Thanks!
This is an amazing recipe. My husband took leftovers to work and one of his coworkers asked for the recipe when he gave her a bit.
This was awesome! I didn’t have crushed tomatoes so I threw some diced tomatoes in the food processor and added some onions in there. It made it kinda soupy, but that was ok, it thickened after it cooled. I will definitely make this again! Very tasty and I can see that it could be a very versatile recipe. I.e. You can add pretty much so anything you want to fit your palate!
I love the creamy smoothness of this sauce, which I find more traditional to Vodka Sauces. With the exception of the heavy creme, for which I sub with a lighter one, this is very, very, very good!
Me and my fiancé made this sauce to go on shrimp and crab ravioli. This sauce was delicious. We spiced it up with some zesty tomato sauce and red pepper flakes also adding salt pepper and a little sugar to cut the acidity. It was delicious.
I have been making this for years. Best homemade vodka sauce. Anyone I have ever gave the recipe to has also loved it!
The best vodka sauce ever!!!!!
Excellent!
i cooked garlic finely chopped mushrooms and onion , sweet peppers chopped until browned added diced tomatoes and vodka sauce about a cup … i eye balled it to my taste . …then added a dash of cream with mozz. cheese put in baking dish at 350 , mixed in my cassarol dish with cooked ritoni noodles , add a little parm cheese and mozz cheese and let bake 5-10 minutes in oven . hubby loved it all the mush and pep and onions all done beautifuly with the noodles and vodka sauce
My 14 in skillet was FULL and when I poured it into the pot for pasta it practically filled the thing and I had pink pasta SOUP!!!
This was really good…like Jillian, I added the spices she did, but I also 3 oz cream cheese and 1/2 c. grated parmesan to the mozzerella cheese in the base. I also mixed a bit of the sauce with the penne and then topped each individual plate of penne with more sauce and topped with mozzerella and baked it in a 200 degree oven until the cheese was melted. This sauce did make enough for 2 meals. The recipe as written was A TON of sauce. Next time I make this, I will do either chicken or Italian Sausage and add it to the “sauce” portion before topping with mozzerella and baking.
I played around with this recipe and loved it. Each time I use it it’s different and my family loves it every time.