Penne alla vodka
35 min · 28 g protein · 494 cals / serving
The viral pink pasta: a deep, sweet tomato sauce built on well-cooked tomato paste and a splash of vodka, made silky and creamy with blended cottage cheese and parmesan instead of heavy cream. Tossed with penne and a little pasta water until every tube is coated.
Ingredients
- 10 oz pasta, penne
Sauce
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 3 tbsp vodka
- 1 can (14 oz) canned crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 2/3 cups cottage cheese (1%)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan, or a vegetarian hard cheese (traditional parmesan uses animal rennet)
- about 1/2 cup water, reserved pasta water
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To serve
- a handful fresh basil
Steps
- Heat the oil and butter in a large, deep pan over medium heat and cook the shallot for 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and pepper flakes for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste and cook it, stirring, for 3–4 minutes until it darkens to a brick red and starts to catch on the pan; this is where the sauce gets its sweetness. Pour in the vodka and let it bubble for a minute, scraping the pan.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Put a large pot of well-salted water on to boil.
- Blend the cottage cheese and parmesan until completely smooth (a stick blender in a tall jug is easiest). Take the sauce off the heat and stir the cheese in until the sauce turns an even, creamy pink.
- Cook the penne until just al dente, scoop out a mug of the cooking water, then drain. Toss the pasta into the sauce over low heat with a splash of pasta water and the black pepper until glossy and clinging. Serve with torn basil.
Good to know
Does the vodka matter?
It sharpens the tomato flavour and helps the sauce come together, and much of the alcohol cooks off as the sauce simmers, though not all. Leave it out and add a squeeze of lemon instead if you prefer; it is still a very good pink pasta, at about the same score.
Will anyone notice the cottage cheese?
Not once it is blended smooth: it tastes like a creamy, slightly cheesy sauce. Do blend it, though. Stirred in as curds, it stays lumpy.
Can I make it heartier?
Use a lentil or chickpea pasta (about 58 instead of 46), or fold a few handfuls of baby spinach into the sauce at the end. A side salad does the rest.
Per
- Calories
- 123
- Protein
- (24%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (56%)
- 17 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 326 mg
About 50% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1974 kcal goes into the pot and 1439 g of ingredients comes out as about 1600 g of food: 123 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.