Vodka sauce. An interesting, but delicious, sauce of tomato, vodka, and cream. It’s kind of like a marinara sauce and an alfredo sauce merged together on a drunken night. The uniqueness of the sauce is part of its charm though. The pinkish color created by the tomato and cream combination, and the flavor of all the ingredients blending together is definitely a different experience. You get the sweet and tart of the tomato, the smokiness of the pancetta, the mild bite of the vodka, and the cream kind of smoothing it all out. It’s a fun, tasty little dish.
I use tomato passata to make my vodka sauce. I like the texture it provides. I also like rigatoni for this dish rather than the typical penne. I build the base with pancetta (or bacon), onion, and garlic. From there the vodka, passata, cream, and cheese are layered in. The rigatoni is tossed in the sauce and some pasta water is used to bring it all together. A garnish of parsley adds some color to the end, and we have a finished rigatoni with vodka sauce!
Ingredients
1 lb Rigatoni
⅓ cup pancetta or bacon, cubed
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
⅓ cup vodka
2 cups tomato passata
½ cup heavy cream or half and half
2 tbsp plus ½ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp black pepper
3-4 tbsp parsley, chopped
Grated Parmesan
1 lb Rigatoni
⅓ cup pancetta or bacon, cubed
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
⅓ cup vodka
2 cups tomato passata
½ cup heavy cream or half and half
2 tbsp plus ½ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp black pepper
3-4 tbsp parsley, chopped
Grated Parmesan
Fill a medium sized stock pot ½ to ⅔ of the way full with water. Bring it to a simmer and then add 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir the water to make sure the salt is dissolved and then add in the dried rigatoni. Cook the rigatoni for about 10-12 minutes, until it is al dente. Once the ziti is al dente, reserve a few ladles of the pasta water in a bowl, and drain the pasta through a colander.
Heat a pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or two or olive oil followed by the pancetta or bacon. Allow the pieces to cook until they are nicely browned and crisp, approximately 5 minutes.
Remove the pancetta or bacon pieces from the pan and reserve them on a plate lined with paper towels.
Turn the heat down to medium, and add the onion to the pan. Sauté until it is soft and translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir it into the onions, and allow it to cook for approximately one minute, until fragrant.
Add the vodka, turn the heat down to medium-low, and allow the vodka to reduce by half, about 2-3 minutes. Add the passata, along with the ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of black pepper. Stir it all together and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. You may want to place a lid over the pot while it simmers to avoid any splatter.
After 5 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Once the cream is fully incorporated, return the pot to the heat and add the cooked rigatoni noodles and the reserved pancetta or bacon to the sauce. Stir the noodles through the sauce, coating them. Add the Parmesan cheese along with a ladle or two of the pasta water. Stir to fully incorporate the cheese and coat the noodles in the sauce.
Remove the pasta from the heat and it is ready to serve. To serve, spook a portion of the pasta into a bowl and garnish with some of the chopped parsley. Enjoy!