Penne Alla Vodka

Name: Penne Alla Vodka
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ¼ pound bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto, diced; ¼ pound bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto, diced; ¼ pound bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto, diced; ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil; 6 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise; 6 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise; 1 onion, diced; ½ cup vodka; 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes with their juice, puréed in a blender; 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; Kosher salt, to taste; 1 cup heavy cream or 1½ cups evaporated skim milk (for a leaner version); 1 cup heavy cream or 1½ cups evaporated skim milk (for a leaner version); 2 pounds penne; 24 leaves fresh basil, chopped; 1½ cups freshly grated Romano cheese

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 5

Appears in

Cooking with the Firehouse Chef

By Keith Young

Published 2005

About

In the firehouse, it seems that everybody likes a good alla vodka sauce. There are lots of recipes for this, and they are all pretty good. I use bacon in mine, but you could substitute pancetta or prosciutto, and if you’re watching your calories, you can use evaporated skim milk instead of the cream.

Ingredients

¼ pound bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto, diced
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Americas
United States
Pasta

Method

Place a large pot of cold, salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, cook and render the fat from the bacon. (If you are using pancetta or prosciutto, skip this step and just sauté it with the garlic.) When the bacon is almost crisp, transfer it to a plate. Do not clean the pan.

Heat the oil in the pan, then add the bacon along with