PENNE ALLA VODKA recipe & history - all you need to know! (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of penne alla vodka? ›

Italians claim that the recipe was originated in a restaurant in the heart of Italy during the mid-'70s. Americans, however, claim that the sauce began by an Italian-American chef named Luigi Franzese at his restaurant in New York.

In other words, the vodka in this dish can help you smell, and in turn taste, the sauce's flavors in a heightened way. According to the Journal of Food Science, the ethanol also helps more evenly disperse the fat, keeping the emulsified sauce bound, glossy and creamy.

And yes, the vodka really does matter here. We know, because we've done the tests before. Several years ago, Kenji delved into the matter of whether vodka sauce really needed the vodka, and the answer was an unequivocal yes (though the sauce is delicious without it, too).

Vodka Sauce is great with Penne Ziti, but you can create a much more elaborate pasta creation with hot or sweet Italian sausage, classic meatballs or mini meatballs or chicken. The dish of pasta and sauce can be complemented with a leafy green salad, roasted vegetables, sautéed greens, garlic bread and more.

The Origins of Vodka Sauce

Unsurprisingly, the two places that lay claim to the invention of vodka sauce are New York City and Italy. We'll start stateside, with Orsini Restaurant in New York, where it is believed that Chef Luigi Franzese invented, specifically, penne alla vodka, in the 1970s.

Origins. Penne is one of the few pasta shapes with a certain date of birth: in 1865, Giovanni Battista Capurro, a pasta maker from San Martino d'Albaro (Genoa), obtained a patent for a diagonal cutting machine.

Vodka sauce was definitively invented in by Armando Mei for his midtown restaurant Fontana di Trevi, debuting on the menu in 1967. Mei called his penne alla vodka, as the dish most often known as in the United States. It was a combination off tomatoes, vodka, and cream.

The recipe became very popular in Italy and in the United States around the 1980s, when it was offered to discothèque customers. The recipe thus became an icon of the fashionable cuisine of the time, which preferred the use of cream in first courses. Penne alla vodka remains popular in Italian-American cuisine.

Contrary to what the name suggests, penne alla vodka does not taste like vodka. Instead, the vodka acts as a flavor balancer. The alcohol burns off during cooking.

Vodka sauce alone is usually around 207 calories, this dish, sauce and pasta included is only 283 calories 49.1 grams carbs / 1.9 grams fat / 14.9 grams protein. Is pasta and vodka sauce bad for you? No, absolutely not! No food is inherently bad for you if you watch your portion sizes.

Does the vodka burn off in penne alla vodka? ›

The general consensus was that a vodka pasta sauce should be safe for children, if cooked thoroughly. "Traditional vodka sauce uses such a small amount of alcohol that it should evaporate out during cooking," Dr.

Is vodka sauce a mix of marinara and alfredo? Marinara and alfredo mixed is referred to as pink sauce. While pink sauce and pink vodka sauce are both types of tomato sauce, they are not the same thing. Pink sauce is creamier and richer in taste as it is made with a lot more heavy cream.

Cook until softened, 3-5 minutes. 4. Add in vodka and cook it until evaporated. This is where you'll cook off the alcohol content, so this recipe is completely safe for those who don't drink, are pregnant, or children.

Two names to look for are Tamellini and Corte Sant'Alda. Chianti, made in Tuscany, is made largely from Sangiovese. A wide variety of grapes – both black and white – also can be included in its blend. This includes “international grapes” like Cabernet Sauvingon and Merlot.

The recipe became very popular in Italy and in the United States around the 1980s, when it was offered to discothèque customers. The recipe thus became an icon of the fashionable cuisine of the time, which preferred the use of cream in first courses. Penne alla vodka remains popular in Italian-American cuisine.

The authors of the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Italian cookbook say it was the result of a Roman chef wanting to popularize vodka among Italians. Regardless of how it came about, it's hard to deny that vodka sauce is a triumph of flavor balance.

Mario Carbone is the inventor of the spicy rigatoni vodka which is most likely a spin on penne alla vodka. The latter was first seen in 1974 in a cookbook by actor Ugo Tognazzi and the dish was called “pasta all'infuriata.

D'Elia believes, "One: people just love vodka (if you know me I only drink vodka, fresh lime and soda). Two: I think they love the gimmick of the fire when the vodka is poured into the sauce — it's very theatrical and makes the cooking fun.