The pennette with vodka, together with other dishes such as the prawn cocktail, made the history of Italian cuisine in the seventies and eighties. A dish whose origin is disputed between Italy and the USA, also known as “Russian pens” due to the presence of the distillate produced mainly in those lands. Penne rigate and cooked to perfection with a delicious cream-based cream, tomato and bacon, blended with vodka which gives the dish a very special flavour, allowing the tomato to release very intense aromas. Ready in just 30 minutes, pennette with vodka are very easy to prepare and we offer you a really simple and foolproof version, perfect for making a perfect, thick and tasty cream. The secret is inuse tomato pastewhose acidity will be dampened by the sweetness of the cooking cream: we assure you that the result will leave you truly satisfied.

Preparation

1

Fill a large pot with enough cold water. Bring it to a medium flame and wait for it to boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, add the salt and pour the pasta, giving it a stir. Cook the pasta according to the cooking time indicated on the package.

2

In the meantime, peel and clean a golden onion. Cut it in half, then into slices and then chop it finely.

3

Pour the two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a large, non-stick frying pan and turn the heat on to low. As soon as the oil has heated up enough, add the chopped onion and let it simmer for 2 minutes.

4

Cut the bacon into cubes, if you bought it whole. Alternatively, you can also buy ready-made diced bacon. As soon as the onion has softened, add the bacon to the pan, brown it for 2-3 minutes over medium heat and then let everything evaporate by pouring in the vodka.

5

When the alcohol has completely evaporated you can add the tomato paste and mix well so that it joins the bacon.

6

Add a pinch of salt and pour the cream into the pan. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until creamy.

7

At this point the pasta will be cooked. Drain it and pour it directly into the pan, sautéing it for 1 minute so that it mixes perfectly with the cream. Serve immediately, piping hot.

Advice and tips

You can use any bacon you prefer, smoked or sweet. Some also use speck cut into strips.

You can use golden, white or red onions. If you prefer, you can also use shallots for a more subtle flavour.

Don’t let the cream cook too muchotherwise it will be clotted. Instead, it must remain smooth and dense.

Blow up the pasta with the cream for 1 minute and no more, to prevent it from continuing too much cooking and resulting soft.

You can chop a sprig of parsley very finely and add a little as a final decoration to the dish.

Use a smooth vodka, good quality. You can also use chilli vodka if you like, thus obtaining a spicy taste.

storage

Pennette with vodka they must be consumed immediately. They cannot be refrigerated or frozen.

Preparation

Pennette with vodka were particularly famous in the 1980s both in Italy and in America, where they were served at buffets, parties and evenings in clubs. At the time, the use of cooking cream in first courses was particularly appreciated, but vodka as an ingredient was not so widespread. For this reason the The origins of pennette alla vodka are very uncertain and disputed: it is said that the dish was invented by a Bolognese chef who is particularly fond of vodka al Dante restaurantbut some sources declare that instead the invention is to be attributed to a student of Columbia University, James Doty. Others refer to the recipe book “The Buffoon” published by the actor Ugo Tognazzi on the occasion of the film The Big Binge, where the protagonist eats a plate of penne with tomato sauce and very spicy vodka, which replaced the chilli pepper. Finally, a fourth version gives the paternity of the dish to a Neapolitan cook, Luigi Franzesechef at the Orsini restaurant in New York.