Penne alla Vodka

I remember, way back in the day, when my roommate Cathy and I would go all the way to NY just to get Penne all Vodka from this great restaurant. That was the first time I ever tried it and I loved it ever since. Every time I go to an Italian restaurant and see it on the menu, I have to try it. Well, I wanted to try and make my own. I have tried a couple of recipes but none really compare to the original dish I fell in love with. Well, I may have finally found it with this recipe -- it is great! My friend Nancy gave me this recipe which is a friend's of hers. So, thank you so much Nancy and Linda for the great recipe. Enjoy!

Vodka Sauce
Serves 6

Ingredients:
Olive oil
3 - 4 slices of Pancetta - chopped
3 cloves of garlic, min½
½ small onion
½ stick butter
½ vodka
28 oz whole plum tomatoes (put thru a blender)
⅓ cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
Hot pepper flakes (optional)
Parmesan cheese

Directions: Lightly coat bottom of pan with oil, brown pancetta, add onion and garlic saute for a few minutes. Add and melt butter, then carefully add vodka, cook until it bubbles and evaporated about 3/4 of the vodka. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook for at least 35 minutes (a little more is nice too). Add heavy cream, cook for 10 minutes more. Toss over pasta with cheese. This sauce will be enough for one box of penne pasta. The sauce will thicken as it cools so keep that in mind.

Once the sauce was made, I added the cooked penne and tossed it all together.

Here is the Penne alla Vodka with fresh parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and served with chicken.