Penne Rigate Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce
Pasta is often at its very best when tossed with a simple sauce of just a few flavors, and finished with a quality olive oil and grated cheese. This vodka sauce is a good example. It begins as a butter, infused with the flavors of salty prosciutto, sweet tomato paste, and fresh parsley. When the butter is ready, the vodka and cream are added, and emulsified with the butter. Reduce the sauce to just the right consistency, cook the pasta just to al dente (taste it at intervals, don’t follow the box instructions), toss the pasta in the pan with the sauce, and finish with your best olive oil and Pecorino or Parmigiano cheese, and you’ll have a perfect pasta.
Heat & Knives
The Recipe
Source: The Silver Spoon
1/4 cup butter
1 thick slice cooked, cured ham, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup vodka
3 cups penne rigate
salt and pepper
Melt the butter in a pan, add the ham, tomato paste and parsley, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and vodka and cook until the vodka has evaporated. Cook the penne in a large pan of salted, boiling water until al dente, then drain and tip into a warm serving dish. Pour the sauce over the pasta.
