Penne Alla Vodka | Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Penna Alla Vodka is a delicious, restaurant-quality Italian dish that you can make in less than 30 minutes in your own home kitchen! Join Eric from Simply Elegant Home Cooking as he explains all of the steps to make this recipe. One of the keys to a great pasta and vodka sauce is to use the best quality ingredients you can find! Eric recommends Italian tomato paste in a tube which is extra concentrated and highest quality, along with a high quality vodka that you would enjoy sipping. While it is an optional ingredient, Eric highly recommends adding a small amount of prosciutto which will add amazing flavor, saltiness, and savory elements to the finished dish.

Ingredients (can be doubled):
- 1/2 pound penne pasta
- 1/2 tube Italian tomato paste
- 1/2 red onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 ounce prosciutto
- 3/8 cup heavy cream
- 2 1/2 ounces vodka
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (preferably 24 months aged)
- 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste (or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1 handful fresh basil leave
- salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
- Begin by heating your pasta water. In the time it takes to come up to a boil you can prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Dice the red onion, peel and slice the garlic cloves as thin as you can with a knife, and cut the prosciutto into a medium size dice.
- Preheat on medium-low heat a large pan where you will cook the sauce and ultimately add in the cooked pasta.
- Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, along with the prosciutto. Add a small pinch of salt and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once prosciutto develops color, add in the diced red onion and continue to cook for about 5 additional minutes.
- Add in the sliced garlic and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning the garlic.
- Add in the tomato paste along with the Calabrian chili paste. Stir to evenly incorporate all the ingredients.
- Right after adding the tomato paste, add your pasta to the boiling, salted water and cook until pasta is al dente.
- After about 2 minutes, the tomato paste should have deepened in color. At this point, add the vodka to deglaze the pan and use a spatula to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- About a minute after adding the vodka, add in the heavy cream and stir to evenly incorporate. As pasta continues to cook, monitor the thickness of the vodka sauce and add small amounts of the starchy water if your sauce becomes too thick.
- While pasta and sauce cook, grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
- Once pasta is cooked to desired doneness, drain but DO NOT RINSE and add it to the sauce. Turn up the heat close to medium to help marry the pasta and sauce.
- After a minute, turn the heat off and add in the cheese and butter. Stir to incorporate and to emulsify the butter into the sauce.
- After another minute, add in the fresh basil.
- Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, black pepper, more Parmigiano-Reggiano, and more torn basil.
- Enjoy and be sure to SUBCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL if you haven't already done so!