Pasta With Vodka Sauce Recipe

[Photographs: Daniel Gritzer]

A staple of Italian-American red-sauce eating places throughout the United States for the reason that 1980s, vodka sauce has a historical past as opaque as its densely creamy orange hue. Was it a well-known Italian actor who invented it? A ’70s restaurant in Bologna? A Columbia University scholar? Or did it come from Russia? Meh, as a lot as I like delving into the historical past of well-known dishes, I can stay with this thriller remaining unsolved.

What’s cool about vodka sauce is not who got here up with it, however quite how scrumptious it’s. And sure, the vodka actually does matter right here. We know, as a result of we have carried out the assessments earlier than. Several years in the past, Kenji delved into the matter of whether vodka sauce really needed the vodka, and the reply was an unequivocal sure (although the sauce is scrumptious with out it, too).

In a collection of blind tastings, Kenji discovered that the hit of impartial booze enhanced the fruity aroma of the sauce whereas bringing a background warmth and sharpness that balanced out the richness of the sauce.

He additionally zeroed in on what he discovered to be the best quantity of vodka—about one quarter cup per quart of sauce, simmered for about seven minutes earlier than serving. My testing aligned together with his, and so that is what this recipe requires (to get the timing proper, the vodka is added a couple of minute earlier than the pasta is mixed with the sauce, after which it is all cooked collectively for one more couple of minutes; by the point cheese is stirred in and the pasta is completed, you will be fairly near the seven-minute mark).

That stated, preferences range, so in order for you a boozier sauce, you may all the time add a bit of splash of vodka proper earlier than serving to carry the alcohol to the forefront.

What else makes this sauce nice? Well, if you happen to take a look at sufficient vodka sauce recipes on the market, you will discover that a few of them use a really giant quantity of tomato paste as the one tomato ingredient within the sauce, whereas others go for canned tomatoes (generally with a pair tablespoons of tomato paste added for depth).

I examined each strategies and preferred points of every. A tomato paste–heavy vodka sauce has great fruity depth that, to me, offers the sauce a part of its signature taste. But even a full tube of paste mixed with an entire lot of cream cannot fairly make sufficient sauce for 4 servings, and leaves the onion taste too dominant. Canned tomatoes, alternatively, present a brighter, fruitier tomato character, however none of that tomato paste depth; a pair tablespoons of paste aren’t sufficient to compensate for that.

My resolution: Use each a complete tube (or can) or tomato paste, plus a small can of entire peeled tomatoes. Combined, they yield a sauce that is nuanced and layered, with richness, depth, and brightness. It’s a winner.

As for the pasta? Most recipes name for penne, and it is an choice right here, however at Serious Eats we love this sauce much more with rigatoni.