Penne with Pink Vodka Sauce

Awesome! I cut the recipe in half and sauteed the minced garlic with some finely chopped onion. I also added 1 Tbsp. of basil, 1 tsp. of oregano, and 1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes along with a couple of teaspoons of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I didn't have mozzarella on hand so I used grated parmesan instead. It came out velvety smooth and was very rich - perfect with a side of garlic bread.

This was a super-easy and quick recipe - perfect for a weeknight. It would make a wonderful appearance to serve at a family function. Overall, it was quite tasty and enjoyed by my family. It is quite rich, so eat it in moderation. The only thing I could say should be changed is that the tomatoes should cook down more than 10 minutes to burn-off some of the acid - more like 20-30 minutes before adding the cheese and cream. Since my family prefers something with a little more 'kick', next time I would consider adding a few more spices such as an extra clove or two of garlic, a dash of oregano, some fresh cracked pepper, and a few sprigs of fresh basil - especially to garnish before serving! And possibly add about an extra 1/2 cup to 1 cup of grated romano or parmesan cheese to thicken the rue. Otherwise - it was great!!

update: hadnt made this in a while and kids were requesting so I made it but this time I also added Italian seasonings as per reviewer as well as garlic powder and salt to taste. I also put in fresh mushrooms which was great though next time I would sautee them first as they are a bit soggy. Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!! This was deliciously amazing- like eating in a fancy restaurant! I sauteed three cloves of frosen garlic in olive oil, I used one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 3/4 cup of cream and half a cup of vodka and that was perfect in amount and in taste. This also was soooo quick- it took five minutes.

The sauce was wonderful... reminds me of the Penne Vodka I used to order at my favorite authentic Italian restaurant. The only tweaking we did was using Absolut Citron - it was the only vodka we had in the house! We were pleasantly surprised - it gave the sauce a really fresh taste. We also added chicken to round out the meal. My only complaint would be that this recipe makes literally twice the sauce you need for the pasta. Either double the pasta or halve the sauce.

This is everything you want in a dinner recipe -- it is great for all the palates in my family. It's approachable for kids, yet elegant and refined for the grown-ups. And so simple...I followed the recipe exactly, except I used lots more garlic because, well, we love garlic. This recipe also reheats well for lunch the next day. Vodka sauce begs for seafood, in my opinion, so next time I will serve with scallops and shrimp, maybe some lump crab -- but still it was great as written. Thanks!

I thought that this recipe, while quick and easy, made far too much sauce and the taste of the vodka came out way too strong for my taste...

This is a wonderful recipe! I usually cook the tomatoes down a lot longer to cut the acid. I also add a lot more garlic and some fresh herbs. It's wonderful with seafood or chicked added. My friends rave over this and it's a common request when they come for dinner. Thanks!

it was great! i played around with the sauce since i didnt have the second can of tomatoes and i was missing half a pint of heavy cream- and there was still so much more sauce than needed! you will most def. have too much sauce for 1 pound penne, so you should cut down the tomatoes and cream. i used olive oil instead of butter, just enough to full the bottom of the saucer. i added one more cup of cheese- you can add so much more cheese if you like that extra gooiness! you can play around with the vodka too, i used a little less than a cup. it was delicious, and like i said, i had more sauce than i needed.

I added a lot. I put in oregano, garlic, basil,red pepper flakes, and lots more cheese (even some cream cheese). And there was definitely too much vodka for me. 1/2 cup would be plenty . With the revisions, my family enjoyed it alot.

Prepared this wonderful dish last night for my boyfriend and he said it was one of the best vodka sauces. Except for adding a tsp of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (which added a little spicy taste to it), I followed the instructions. Highly recommended recipe- easy to prepare and delicious to eat.

This was FANTASTIC! I made just like the recipe said the first time and it was really good but was missing something. 2nd time around I used olive oil instead of butter Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Pecorino Romano about a 1/4 cup of each. more mozzarella and 3/4 cup vodka. I also added Basil and some italian seasoning. It was sooo good I literally could drink it! Rave reviews from friends and Family. Will be a regular recipe in our house!

This recipe was ok but not DIVINE. I'm from New Orleans and used to more flavor in my food, yet I can eat a baked potatoe and be satisfied. This recipe was just not the rave that reviewers gave it. I read the reviews and thought the sauce would be too much, so I doubled the penne pasta. Still it is a LOT! What does someone want with 2-28 oz cans of tomatoes unless they are feeding a small army anyway! The first thing I tasted was the aluminum from the canned tomatoes! Who wants to taste aluminum. I am used to eating fresh fruits and vegetables and could avoid canned goods for the rest of my life. The second dissapointment was that you couldn't even taste the vodka, which was quite expensive. I realize the alcohol burns off, but the vodka was overpowered by the canned tomatoes and the cream. Third, I must say that I was not hip on "pink" sauce. Food is not supposed to be PINK! But the vodka attracted me to this recipe. I realize the pink comes from combining the cream and tomatoes, but still looking at pink food was not to my palate. The only reason I gave this 3 stars is because my better half wanted to give it 5 and I wanted to give it 2 so we combined. It was not worthy of a 4 star review.

This recipe makes enough sauce for two to three pounds of pasta. The sauce is also extremely soupy and needs to reduce for 45 minutes to an hour. There is also too much vodka and too little cheese and no spice at all. I added oregano, salt, pepper, used light butter and part skim mozzarella and it still tasted heavy (because of the cream). I think for my next attempt (which will be a while because it will take a while to use up the leftovers) I will make the following modifications: Halve the recipe, tomatoes, cream (partially substitute milk), vodka, butter. Double the garlic and cheese (add Parmesan). Add the salt, pepper, oregano (again) and red pepper flakes. Add EVOO/substitute for butter.

Five stars for ease and for taste. My family loved this!! I made a few changes which cut calories and added flavor: 1. cut the butter to 3 T. 2. Used four cloves of garlic. 3. Cut the vodka to 2/3 cup (otherwise it's pretty strong for kids) 4. Used only one can of crushed tomatoes and added 10 oz. tom. paste with an equal amount of water. 5. Used one cup cream and one cup milk.

Loved this! I change a couple of things I used one 28oz can crushed tomatoes and one 28oz can tomato sauce because that's what I had on hand and it worked well it didn't come out quit as think as a traditional vodka sauce but it was still great. I also added 2 teaspoons of sugar to the sauce to cut the bitterness of the tomatoes and added italian seasoning. After reading some of the reviews I used 1/2 a cup of vodka. Oh and this does make a lot of sauce but that's fine with me i froze the leftover cant wait to have it again.

Makes enough for 2 boxes of penne, easily. Took a really long time for the mozzarella to melt down.

My wife has made this recipe a number of times for parties and it disappears quickly. this is a good recipe.

I added some crushed red pepper flakes to the vodka and let it set for awhile(30 mins). That added just a little bit of heat to the back ground of the sauce. I also added a little more garlic and some oregano/salt/pepper. It came out just perfect. Makes a TON of sauce.

Just made this again last night and it is so quick and easy. I also added some crushed red pepper, and extra garlic and cook it for about 25 minutes. I also use half and half instead of heavy cream to make it a little lighter.

it was great!

Loved this one. Easy and simple.

Quick and simple, everyone loved it!

Delicious!!!

This was overall a pretty good recipe. I did make a few changes though. First of all, I doubled the garlic. Then I added fresh sliced mushrooms to the garlic/butter. I only used 1/2 cup of vodka which was just the right amount. For the tomatoes, I used one 28 oz. italian style diced tomatoes and one 6 oz. tomato paste. I used a little extra mozzarella and about a cup of grated parmesan and romano cheese. As far as spices go, I added some basil, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Then I marinated 3 large chicken breasts in bottled lemon pepper marinade. I cut the chicken in bite size pieces and cooked them separately. Then I drained the chicken and added it to the sauce. This gave the sauce some extra flavor.

Very delish, but the mozzarella cheese didn't melt right. It clumped up. I will make it again for sure, but next time i'm going to try parmesean cheese instead, with mozzarella on top.

i had to add 3 tablespoons of cornstartch to thicken the sauce and then add a lot of spices, but it was still pretty bland. I'm going to try a different recipe next time.

I'm sure it's a great recipe, but it started on fire. Huge Flames! Not a recipe for the domestically challenged.

This one has always been a favorite of mine.There's nothing like homemade vodka sauce,my fiance' comes back for thirds.

Tasty, fast, and easy! I garnished with fresh basil as well as topped with baked ricotta... Simply spread container roughly 1 1/2 cups of ricotta on a pan and put in the oven at 450 till it looks like most of the water has been removed, and then finish with a short broil to brown the top. Delicious~!

Very easy, I let simmer for an hour.

I would give this a 5 star, except that the mozzarella clumped up pretty bad when I mixed the sauce with the pasta. The taste was wonderful though!!! I'm actually going to make this again tonight, but I'm going to use parmesan cheese instead. I also added a few handfuls of chopped fresh spinach to easy my conscience. It was a very nice addition to the flavor, texture, and appearance. Like other reviews, I cooked down the tomatoes more (I used fresh), substituted olive oil for the butter and used less heavy cream. Easy recipe to play with!

This recipe was great. The only problem I had was that the vodka was too strong. I cut the recipe down to 1/2 a cup of vodka and it works well.

I made this for an Open House I had the day after christmas. It was a HUGE hit, everyone asked for the recipe ... and it makes enough sauce for 2 lbs of pasta. Very easy too!

I played around with this recipe and loved it. Each time I use it it's different and my family loves it every time.

Nice alternative to a traditional marinara sauce. To turn this into a special occasion meal, I serve it over fresh lobster ravioli sold at my local grocery store. Yum!

This was good but I thought it made way too much sauce. Could also use a bit more flavor.

Made this for my family...bit hit. I modified a bit by using a jar sauce and made half the recipe. Then sauted the pasta and sauce with chopped tomato, roasted red peppers, sundried tomato and additional mozzarella cheese for few minutes. Excellent!!

This is a GREAT Vodka Sauce

It is a good base recipe but it yields far too much sauce for 1 lb of pasta and I would cut the vodka by at least 1/2 next time... I was starting to worry if my 3 yr old would be drunk off of it.

This dish was surprisingly very good! I had tons of leftovers. I wanted to jazz it up and add some meat to it but I was afraid to mess up the recipe.

I made this for my husband and he loved it!!!! It was so quick and delicious.

This was very simple to make with ingredients I already had on hand. My husband and I loved it!!!! Thanks..

Excellent, wouldn't change anything.

This was really good...like Jillian, I added the spices she did, but I also 3 oz cream cheese and 1/2 c. grated parmesan to the mozzerella cheese in the base. I also mixed a bit of the sauce with the penne and then topped each individual plate of penne with more sauce and topped with mozzerella and baked it in a 200 degree oven until the cheese was melted. This sauce did make enough for 2 meals. The recipe as written was A TON of sauce. Next time I make this, I will do either chicken or Italian Sausage and add it to the "sauce" portion before topping with mozzerella and baking.

Awesome!! the only thing that I would change is adding some flour to the garlic as it cooks, that way the sauce will be thicker. Everyone loved it! lots of leftovers even when I changed the serving to 4. Will make this again for sure!

I added about 3 more cloves of garlic because I don't like vodka sauce that tastes too American. I also added a tomato sauce with italian spices instead of the crushed tomatoes. This recipe is enough for a couple of meals. Really good with some variation.

Excellent recipe and very tasty. I simply replaced the penne with rotini pasta. Next time, I will cut half the amount of crushed tomatoes, since I found it a bit too watery but still, the taste of the pasta was wonderful nonetheless. I added a tiny more vodka 'for maximum effect!' :-) I will definitely make it again.

The best vodka sauce ever!!!!!

I made this vodka sauce and I have to say it was FANTASTIC!! The next time I make it I'm adding some asparagus as well as chicken.

Delicious sauce! I must warn though that this is WAY too much sauce for a pound of penne pasta! I froze more than half of it. I also used 1/2 cup of vodka (Not by choice-my husband drank it all!) and it was still wonderful!

Very easy and quick to make. Very tasty like in a restaurant. I did half the vodka and thought it was perfect...wouldn't want any more. I also added a fair amount of salt and some red pepper and chicken as well..very nice!

My 14 in skillet was FULL and when I poured it into the pot for pasta it practically filled the thing and I had pink pasta SOUP!!!

this was delicious and so easy!!!! i followed directions exactly then cooked some italian sausage and asparagus to go with it. My husband and I loved this dish!!!

Too much cream for my taste... Added about 1/2 of what it called for. Overall, enjoyed it!

Delicious. I added more garlic and some red pepper flakes.

This is the best Vodka sauce and so easy to make! The only thing I found is that I make the sauce the day before and refrigerate it seems to taste better sitting over night! The I just heats sauce up and add the pasta!!! I gave this recipe over and over again and evrybody loves it!!!!

VERY GOOD RECIPE! just made it for din din tonight before the gravyard shift! Definitely recommend espeically with sausage! :)

This was very good. I did use half of the vodka, added a pinch of red pepper flakes and 1 small shallot.

We just love this sauce! My husband rarely eats leftovers, but he gobbled this right up! It is a big batch, but I found it nice for either larger crowds or to have a few meals as leftovers. Very tasty!! We added shrimp, which we weren't really a fan of, so we'll try the sauce by itself or with chicken next time.

This was too runny. Next time I will add ricotta or more mozzarella but it sure tasted great!!

I have been making this for years. Best homemade vodka sauce. Anyone I have ever gave the recipe to has also loved it!

I love the creamy smoothness of this sauce, which I find more traditional to Vodka Sauces. With the exception of the heavy creme, for which I sub with a lighter one, this is very, very, very good!

Really good! Scaled recipe to 1/4 by using a 15 oz can of whole plum tomatoes with their juice pureed in a blender and dividing everything else by 4. I added 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning and 1/4 tsp salt. Sauce was delicious, no single flavor dominated, couldn't single out the vodka. The consistency was perfect for me, once the mozzarella melted in it thickened up and the cream made it just right. Rich, creamy and delicious. Ha, ha, served it on bow tie pasta. Will make again soon, try a whole batch of sauce and freeze it in usable portions. Thanks!

i cooked garlic finely chopped mushrooms and onion , sweet peppers chopped until browned added diced tomatoes and vodka sauce about a cup ... i eye balled it to my taste . ...then added a dash of cream with mozz. cheese put in baking dish at 350 , mixed in my cassarol dish with cooked ritoni noodles , add a little parm cheese and mozz cheese and let bake 5-10 minutes in oven . hubby loved it all the mush and pep and onions all done beautifuly with the noodles and vodka sauce

Easy and excellent! Great weeknight meal. It makes a double batch of sauce so love having extra for later in the week. Also added seasonings as others recommended.

This was awesome! I didn't have crushed tomatoes so I threw some diced tomatoes in the food processor and added some onions in there. It made it kinda soupy, but that was ok, it thickened after it cooled. I will definitely make this again! Very tasty and I can see that it could be a very versatile recipe. I.e. You can add pretty much so anything you want to fit your palate!

This sauce is delicious! I cooked up a chicken breast (seasoned with fresh ground pepper, Kosher salt, oregano, basil & thyme) and then made the sauce in the same pan to pick up the extra flavor. I also doubled the amount of garlic. Delicious! Oh, and the 8-10 minute recommendation for the penne cooking time was great--it was shorter than the amount of time listed on the box of penne, but the pasta turned out perfectly al dente. I will make this one again! :)

I have made this a few times and I absolutely love it...Have made it for a few parties and people rave about it

Did not taste vodka at all. Had to put lots of salt and peppers to season it.

Its really easy to make and came out delicious. I did substituce plain tomato sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes and it came out excellent

Great quick recipe.... I halved all ingredients except the garlic, added some dried basil, oregano and rosemary. And topped with tick slices of fresh mozzarella. Then baked I oven at 250 .

This was wonderful and so easy. Nice for a weeknight dinner. Thanks for a great, easy recipe....

absolutely delicious and so easy!! As someone else suggested, I did add a pinch of red pepper - probably about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon........just to give it a kick! my boys loved it - and so did I! thanks so much for sharing......

Me and my fiancé made this sauce to go on shrimp and crab ravioli. This sauce was delicious. We spiced it up with some zesty tomato sauce and red pepper flakes also adding salt pepper and a little sugar to cut the acidity. It was delicious.

I think this dish is awesome. I made per the recipe except, I used milk instead of cream as store was out. I made my own fresh fetticini for the first time. Rave reviews of both.

I did somethin wrong i guess.The vodka was strong and i cant serve this to my kids.I will try it again though,with less vodka.pretty tasty just too much alcohol

FlavorlessToo much of a tomato flavor and not enough of other flavors. Bland

Excellent!

This is an amazing recipe. My husband took leftovers to work and one of his coworkers asked for the recipe when he gave her a bit.

I moved out of NJ 10 years ago and none of the Italian restaurants I’ve visited west of the Mississippi know how to make vodka sauce!! I finally decided I should give it a try. This recipe is good but with some enhancements. I added a dash of oregano, dash of basil, onion flakes (maybe two tbl worth) and fresh ground pepper. I also used 1 cup of shredded parmesan instead of mozzarella (I didn’t have mozzarella at the house). I only used 1/2 cup of vodka. After checking other vodka sauce recipes that called for anywhere between 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of vodka, I figured 1/2 cup would work. Some reviews on here said 1 cup was a little too potent. I also only used 3 tbl of butter, again just based on other recipes that called for no more than 1 or 2 tbl of butter. The sauce turned out INCREDIBLE. My husband was and is still raving about it. Thanks for this recipe!

The recipe was easy to make, however I felt that the flavor was lacking. It tasted more like raw tomatoes and not as rich of a flavor as I would have liked and compared to other vodka sauces I have had before.