We like to use wine in pasta recipes to enhance the flavors of the pasta sauce, for example. Hard liquor is something we rarely use for cooking… except when it comes to Pasta alla Vodka. As the name suggests, vodka plays a significant role in this dish. What may sound a little strange at first is an incredibly delicious pasta dish we love to prepare here. Not just because it tastes good, but also because it’s quick to put on the table ;P
On a weeknight, most of us want dinner to be quick and easy. After a hard day in the office (or working from home) nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen preparing dinner, right?! ;P I mean… you could order something from a delivery service, but that can get expensive quickly. With the right recipes, you can save a lot of money here, and you don’t have to spend a lot of extra time in the kitchen.
The list of ingredients for this pasta dish is pretty straightforward. If you like to mix yourself a cocktail every now and then, you might even have all the ingredients at home. I’m talking about the vodka ;P We always have a bottle of vodka in the kitchen cupboard… even though we rarely drink alcohol. Fortunately, the stuff can be used for cooking and baking as well.
Speaking of baking. Yes, you can use vodka for baking. For example, you can add some vodka to pie dough instead of using ice water only. The baked pie crust will be more crispy/flaky due to the vodka. The alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature compared to water while baking and creates little hollow spaces in the crust – creating a flakier texture. The best example of this is probably my Summer Berry Pie ;) However, you won’t notice the alcohol in the finished pastry (even though it hasn’t necessarily all evaporated).
If you don’t mind the alcohol flavor in bakes, you might want to try my Gin Tonic Cake. That one has a lot of gin added, and you should definitely be able to taste that it’s been baked! So that one is probably only for gin tonic fanboys and girls who like to enjoy that drink every once in a while ;P
Anyone who cooks or bakes with alcohol should always keep in mind that the added alcohol never disappears completely. Even though many people think it does. A small amount of alcohol always remains in your bake or whatever you cooked. So in case you are cooking/baking for kids, you might want to keep that in mind. Especially with a pasta dish like this one. There’s certainly still quite a bit of alcohol in the sauce at the end of the cooking time.
If you like pasta dishes, you might want to try one of my other pasta recipes. We love preparing pasta, so there are quite a few recipes on the blog already. My Green Goddess Pasta is quick and easy to prepare and my Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Spinach & Chorizo are incredibly delicious. I can really only recommend trying both recipes.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(4 servings)
some olive oil for frying
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. chili flakes
4 tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup (60ml) vodka
1/2 cup (120ml) veggie broth
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
1.8 oz. (50g) Parmesan, grated (plus some more)
1 tbsp. butter
salt, pepper
17.6 oz. (500g) pasta (e.g. Bombardoni*)
(4 Portionen)
etwas Olivenöl zum Anbraten
1 mittelgroße rote Zwiebel, fein gehackt
3-4 Knoblauchzehen, fein gehackt
1 TL getrockneter Oregano
1 TL Chiliflocken
4 EL Tomatenmark
60ml Wodka
120ml Gemüsebrühe
240ml Sahne
50g Parmesan, gerieben (plus mehr)
1 EL Butter
Salz, Pfeffer
500g Nudeln (z. B. Bombardoni*)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Get all other ingredients ready. Have a large pot with salted water ready for the pasta – you might want to start cooking the pasta while still working on the sauce.
2. Add some olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pan and heat up. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, and chili flakes. Sauté everything over medium-high heat until the onions are soft and glossy – takes about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and let it cook/roast with the other ingredients for another 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly. Deglaze with the vodka and let it cook away almost completely. Add the veggie broth and heavy cream and stir in. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions – mine took about 13 minutes until al dente. Drain when done. Keep a bit of the pasta water for the sauce.
4. Add the grated Parmesan and butter to the sauce and stir in. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. If the pasta is not done yet, keep the temperature low and cover the pot to keep the sauce warm. When the pasta is ready, add it to the sauce. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it with a bit of the pasta water. Serve the pasta in bowls with some additional grated Parmesan on top. Enjoy!
1. Die Zwiebel und den Knoblauch schälen und fein hacken. Alle anderen Zutaten bereitstellen. Einen großen Topf mit Salzwasser für die Nudeln bereitstellen. Man kann mit dem Kochen der Nudeln schon beginnen, während die Soße noch in Arbeit ist.
2. Etwas Olivenöl in einem großen Topf oder einer großen Pfanne und erhitzen. Zwiebel, Knoblauch, Oregano und Chiliflocken dazugeben und bei mittlerer Hitzezufuhr etwa 2-3 Minuten anschwitzen. Tomatenmark dazugeben und für etwa 2-3 Minuten mit anschwitzen lassen. Alles mit Wodka ablöschen – den Alkohol fast vollständig einkochen lassen. Gemüsebrühe und Sahne dazugeben und unterrühren. Die Soße etwa 4-5 Minuten bei schwacher Hitzezufuhr köcheln lassen.
3. Die Nudeln nach Packungsanweisung kochen – meine mussten etwa 13 Minuten kochen, bis sie al dente waren. Die Nudeln abgießen und einen Teil des Nudelwassers für die Soße auffangen.
4. Parmesan und Butter zur Soße dazugeben und unterrühren. Nach Belieben mit Salz und Pfeffer abschmecken. Sollten die Nudeln noch nicht gar sein, die Hitzezufuhr herunterregeln, den Topf mit einem Deckel abdecken und die Soße warm halten. Sobald die Nudeln fertig sind, in den Topf dazugeben und alles gut vermengen. Sollte die Soße zu dickflüssig sein, kann man sie mit etwas Nudelwasser verdünnen. Die Nudeln in Schüsseln servieren und nach Gusto mit geriebenem Parmesan dekorieren. Guten Appetit!
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Easy Pasta alla Vodka
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:20
- Total Time: 00:30
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A simple and easy pasta dish we love to do on weeknights – Pasta alla Vodka. Really delicious and easy to prepare. The flavors are just great!
Ingredients
some olive oil for frying
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3–4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. chili flakes
4 tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup (60ml) vodka
1/2 cup (120ml) veggie broth
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
1.8 oz. (50g) Parmesan, grated (plus some more)
1 tbsp. butter
salt, pepper
17.6 oz. (500g) pasta (e.g. Bombardoni*)
Instructions
1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Get all other ingredients ready. Have a large pot with salted water ready for the pasta – you might want to start cooking the pasta while still working on the sauce.
2. Add some olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pan and heat up. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, and chili flakes. Sauté everything over medium-high heat until the onions are soft and glossy – takes about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and let it cook/roast with the other ingredients for another 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly. Deglaze with the vodka and let it cook away almost completely. Add the veggie broth and heavy cream and stir in. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions – mine took about 13 minutes until al dente. Drain when done. Keep a bit of the pasta water for the sauce.
4. Add the grated Parmesan and butter to the sauce and stir in. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. If the pasta is not done yet, keep the temperature low and cover the pot to keep the sauce warm. When the pasta is ready, add it to the sauce. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it with a bit of the pasta water. Serve the pasta in bowls with some additional grated Parmesan on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Make something amazing in the kitchen!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
