The sauce that keeps on giving
VODKA SAUCE!
Welcome back to Pasta Sunday! Thank you so much for being here. As a reader supported publication, you make this all possible! ❤️
First thing’s first - hello from London! I’m back in the UK with my family for the holidays and despite the grey skies, I am loving being back in a colder climate for Christmas. It’s been 6 years since I’ve been back at this time of year, so it’s well and truly overdue.
At the time of receiving this, I would have been here for almost a week. So far I’ve been enjoying the pubs, decorating our airbnb for some festive feels, and doing a lot of walking. It’s been absolutely grand.
I’ll be making a note of the things I get up to while over here as I’m planning to put together a round up of some things to do, eat, see which I’ll share in due course.
Now, onto the food.
Today we’re taking a closer look at one of my all time favourite dishes. This is something that I go to time and time again - be it a weeknight, quick wfh lunch or weekend delight - there’s just something about it that keeps this silky, glossy and very moreish pasta on heavy rotation in our house.
Ladies and gentlefolk, vodka sauce 🎉
You’re likely already very familiar with vodka sauce. A simple combination of tomato with cream and that all important spike of vodka, it’s been knocking around since the 1970s, but launched into somewhat of a celeb status in more recent years thanks to the likes of exclusive US restaurants like Carbone helping push its popularity. While vodka sauce seems to fall into the Italian-American classic category, its origins are relatively disputed. Some credit its creation to Dante restaurant in Bologna, others suggest it came into existence at Orsini restaurant in New York. And that’s not it, there are plenty more claims to its creation - Taverna Flavia in Rome, a chef working with a mysterious vodka company, some Columbia University grad called James Doty (somehow less believable) - you get the picture. My general observation is whether or not it was created stateside or in Italy, its popularity seems to preside predominantly in the former.
As someone who lives outside of the USA, it really wasn’t until the early lockdown months of 2020 that vodka sauce came into my common lexicon - although this wasn’t my first encounter with the dish. I first tried it in the mid-00s in the small Swiss-Italian town of Ticino - and frankly I’ll never forget it. Seated at a little trattoria perched somewhere up in the mountains, a pappardelle alla vodka presented itself on the menu. The group I was with recommended it, and I remember being totally perplexed at the addition of vodka and pleasantly surprised by the unique aromas and flavour that it brought to the palate. Then, that was it - never to be seen again! Or that was until 2020 when a friend of mine cooked us dinner citing Gigi Hadid’s pasta as the inspiration. Who knew an Instagram story could single handedly bring vodka sauce to icon status?
For a fair while after that you could identify an alla vodka about to happen a mile off. A shopper at the supermarket foraging - basket in hand - for tomato paste, cream, parmigiano reggiano, and basil. Rigatoni seemed to have become the pasta of choice for anyone who had come across its recent Instagram fame. Lumache for those wanting to mimic the Carbone version. Seeing that basket you just knew it was destined for a delicious dinner with friends, or perhaps for a date, or simply curled up on the couch ready for a night of TV - evidence of the sauce’s renewed popularity was everywhere. 2020 was the year of vodka sauce.
Fast forward four years (!) and while I don’t often spot those familiar shopping baskets these days, I do still notice the continued coverage on social media. That glossy, orange sauce is unmistakable and something about its familiarity makes it even more craveable. I guess it’s the knowledge that if you make it, you will be happy, fed in 30 min and with minimal washing up to do. I for one am sold, time and time again.
The sauce
There are a couple of schools of thought when it comes to vodka sauce - quick and not quite as so, ultra smooth or slightly more rustic. The main variant here is the type of tomatoes you use.
Some recipes call for passata, others crushed tomatoes. Both of these result in a delicious but slightly more textured sauce - crushed tomatoes especially requiring a touch longer of cooking to help break them down slightly.
Other recipes, including my version that I have thrown in the ring, use concentrated tomato paste. The sauce coming together more quickly, and the finished texture being incredibly silky and smooth.
Whichever way you lean, the rest is relatively same same. Some garlic, definitely. An allium, perhaps. Caramelise the tomato, deglaze with vodka - allow the alcohol to cook out and then in with the fats - cream, butter, parmigiano. The vodka helps with the emulsification process - no split cream here thank you very much.
The addition of fresh basil is optional, I’ll concede. I add it because I love the occasional floral hit that cuts through the richness of the sauce. The addition of colour is welcome too - my mum always used to say you need 3 colours on a plate of food for it to look balanced, and more often than not I kind of agree.
There is one step that is undisputed as essential for an excellent vodka sauce - and that is really utilising that starchy pasta water. Adding a generous splash will take your sauce from 7/10 to 11/10. Make sure you cook your pasta in just enough water to create more of a starchy water to work with.
The pasta pairing
Historically penne has been touted as pasta of choice for vodka sauce. Personally, I’m just not the biggest fan of it. But pennoni?
It’s giving rigatoni while remaining a little different. Not easy to find, however. So if this is your vibe and you can’t find it, stick to rigatoni.
Aside from pennoni and rigatoni, one of my favourite shapes to pair with vodka sauce is cavatelli - lisci or rigati - both work so well. Maybe it’s the high pasta to mouthful ratio, but their little concave bellies catch so much sauce and it is truly divino.
Other options that work incredibly well: lumache, which are a snail shaped pasta and favoured by the likes of Carbone are impeccable in this dish. They hold so. much. sauce it should be illegal. Also work really well in a baked version, however my pick would be to use ziti if you’re going down the al forno finish.
The Recipe
Sauce recipe can stretch for 4 portions, or if you’re after an ultra saucy situation, use it for 2 serves. Thank me later.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 hot red chilli slit in the middle, or 1-2 tsp dry chilli flakes (optional)
80g tomato paste
50ml vodka
120-140ml double cream (add the lesser amount and a touch more if you feel you want it slightly creamier)
25g butter
A couple of handfuls of grated parmesan
Handful of basil
Pasta of choice 190-375g
Method
Cook your pasta of choice for around 1-2 min less than instructed.
Heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil to a pan then add the chopped shallot, cooking for a few min before adding the garlic and chilli.
Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or so until it takes on a deeper colour.
Add the vodka and let the alcohol cook out (this should only really take a minute), then stir through the cream. Season to taste with salt.
Just before the pasta is ready, add the butter and parmigiano to the sauce. Add a ladle of the pasta water and stir to emulsify. Finally add the basil leaves.
Using a slotted spoon, add the pasta (along with some of the pasta water) directly to the sauce, and toss/agitate to marry.
Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, fresh basil and extra parmigiano.
Additions and variations
This vodka sauce recipe can be used as a base and added upon - I love throwing a tablespoon of ‘nduja in with the shallot and garlic for a lovely and spicy hum. Or alternatively, some pancetta or guanciale - crisp them up first then follow the recipe from where we add the shallots.
Alternatively, adding a couple of Italian sausages and allowing them to crisp and caramelise provides a lovely little extra goodness if you’re looking to add some additional protein - or if you’re looking for a slightly lighter option, why not throw in some prawns instead?
If you really want to take things up a notch - find yourself some ziti, break the thick hollow tubes into shorter pieces and place the finished dish into something oven-proof. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbling and golden.
So go forth and vodka sauce my friends.
Until next time x