As an ISI study abroad student I decided to make Penne Alla Vodka from scratch. One of my favorite Italian sauces I decided to make it one night in my Apartment the true authentic way and with organic fresh ingredients that are not available in America. This dish is very simple and easy to prepare. It came out amazing and is much better than any Vodka sauce you can buy in Jar. As well as being good it can be much cheaper than buying premade vodka sauce. Come along with me as I show you how to make it.

            The first step of our journey to creating Authentic Italian Penne Alla Vodka is to go to the right grocery store. For this I went to Esselunga in Florence. Make sure to bring your own bag! When I arrived at the grocery store, I had to make sure I bought all the ingredients on my list. For the sauce I needed 2 cans of Peeled Tomatoes, Vodka, 1 Onion, Cooking cream, Pancetta, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Parmigiano Reggiano, basil, and of course Penne Pasta from Barilla . All of this was less than 35 euros, including a bottle of vodka with a lot leftover. The most difficult challenge was finding the cooking cream; it is very different from America and isn’t heavy cream as we are used to. I was lucky enough to meet a very nice local man, who helped me find exactly what I needed and what I was looking for. And then after you have all of that it’s time to get into the kitchen.

            Start by putting a pan on medium heat, and putting 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil in. Let it heat up a little and then throw in your bacon. You want to render down the fat from the pancetta and let the flavors get into the sauce. This takes about 5-10 minutes. While you have that started let’s get some prep work down. Take you onion and say about half of it, or a few small onions. Put it to the side once you have it all told up. Now take both your cans of peeled tomatoes and dump them into a medium sized bowl. Now add some salt and pepper and then crush them with a tomato crusher until fine and smooth. Now after you have let the pancetta render down its time to put your onion into the pan. You need to let this sit with the bacon for another 5-10 minutes with occasional stirring. Now that this is sitting you can grade your Parmigiano while you wait into a bowl. Use about half a cup depending on how much cheese you like in your sauce. Now after you let your onion sit, pour about 4-5 ounces of vodka into your pan and then added your crushed tomatoes. Stir everything together and let this sit for about 20 minutes with occasional stirring. You want to let the sauce thicken before adding your heavy cream. As your sauce starts to thicken add in a few fresh basil leaves. Then bring in a pot, add some water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, add in your penne pasta and turn the heat down to medium to low. Once your sauce starts to thicken, add in some cooking cream and stir until reaching a beautiful pink color. Then add your pasta into the sauce, half a cup of pasta water and your Parmigiano Reggiano. Stir for a minute or two and then its time to plate it up and enjoy Bon Appetite.

            I hope you enjoy this Penna Alla Vodka as much as I did. It takes amateur level cooking skills and about 45 minutes to put a beautiful, delicious, and authentic dish together. I hope you take the time at home to put this dish together and enjoy for yourself.