Penne alla vodka

Penne alla vodka(Italian:[ˈpenneallaˈvɔdka]) is a pasta dish ofpenneinvodka sauce: a tomato and cream sauce with somevodka, and sometimes small meats and vegetables such assausage,pancettaorpeas. Sometimes other pasta shapes are used. The alcohol is said to intensify and accentuate flavors in the dish, the alcohol would normally cook off as in most cooking and the dish would not necessarily contain any alcohol. It is usually topped with gratedParmesan cheesein amount as desired, as with ground pepper.
The recipe became very popular in Italy and in the United States around the 1980s, when it was offered todiscothèquecustomers.The recipe thus became an icon of the fashionable cuisine of the time, which preferred the use of cream in first courses.Penne alla vodkaremains popular inItalian-American cuisine.
The exact origins ofpenne alla vodkaare unclear, and to some extent the subject ofurban legendandfolklore. The first use of vodka in a pasta dish recorded in a cookbook is attested to 1974, when the Italian actorUgo Tognazzipublished the cookbookL'Abbuffone(meaning 'the bouffe-men', named after Tognazzi's movieLa Grande Bouffe), which included his recipe ofpasta all'infuriata(lit.'furious pasta'), described as a sort ofpasta all'arrabbiata, made with ½ kg of penne, ½ kg of fresh peeled tomatoes, a shot of vodka,chili pepper, oil, garlic, andbay leaves. Tognazzi suggested also that, if using aPolishvodka with chilli ("formidable, tremendous, very strong, very hot, deadly"), the fresh chilli pepper can be omitted.
There have been multiple, often conflicting, claims to the invention and history of the dish; one author claims that it was invented at Dante, a restaurant inBologna.One cookbook claims that it was invented in the 1980s by a Roman chef for a vodka company that wanted to popularize its product in Italy.The dish may have been common in Italy before becoming popular in America in the early 1980s.
On October 25, 2016, the Italian Association of Confectionery and Pasta Industries named it the symbolic dish of the 18th World Pasta Day organized in Moscow, as symbol of friendship between Italy and Russia.Barillalater foundpenne alla vodkawas the second most sought-after dish of pasta in search engines, behind onlypasta allabolognese.
The sauce consists oftomato saucecombined withcream, an unusual combination in Italian cooking.
Theethanolof the vodka enhances and balances the flavors of the tomato and cream.
Similar tomato and cream sauces without vodka are sometimes known asparma rosaorrosatella.
Disco Sauce: The True Story of Penne Alla Vodkawas released in 2022 by director Roberto Serrini. The documentary examines the history, composition and variations ofpenne alla vodka. The film features chefPasquale Cozzolino, chef Gaetano Arnone, chef Jae Lee, chef JJ Johnson, chef Jeremy Spector and molecular gastronomistHervé This.Disco Sauceis a platinum Viddy,Platinum MarComand Taste Awardwinner.
The May 4th, 2024, episode ofSaturday Night Livefeatured a sketch about penne alla vodka in which it was depicted as a tolerated, but not particularly good, dish often served at events such as weddings, funerals, and anniversaries.
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