Name: Penne della Strega (The Witch’s Penne)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Serves 4 as a first course, or 3 as a main course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vodka; 375 g (12 oz) penne; ½ garlic clove, crushed or chopped very finely; 1 small onion, sliced very finely; 31/ tablespoons single cream; 1 teaspoon sugar; 25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter; 400 g (14 oz) passata (sieved tomatoes); 1 teaspoon dried oregano; salt and pepper; grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Preparation info

Serves
4
as a first course

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
50 min

Appears in

Pasta-lover's Cookbook

By Anna Del Conte

Published 1994

About

A strega is a witch, and this is the name the smart Roman set gave this ultra-modern pasta dish. For the first time, pasta was dressed with a sauce containing a spirit, and the novelty gave rise to a sauce that is well worth trying.

Ingredients

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter
1 small onion, sliced very finely

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over a low heat until the onion is transparent.
Add the passata, with the garlic, oregano and sugar, and simmer gently for about 40 minutes, making sure that the sauce does not become too dry to dress the pasta. If it does, add some boiling water.
Add the cream, vodka and pepper and c