Penne Pasta in Creamy Vodka Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms - make your own vodka sauce from scratch! Easy, delicious, and so Italian! Perfect weeknight dinner!
Want to make an easy Italian dish at home and impress your family, your friends, or your date? Then, this creamy vodka tomato sauce pasta is the right recipe for you!
This pasta dish is packed with flavors (tomatoes, mushrooms, spices, and don't forget vodka!), it's very creamy, with just the right amount of "kick" (spiciness), topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese! The creamy vodka and tomato pasta sauce will please everyone!
Because the sauce is made completely from scratch (no packaged sauces), you can easily convert this recipe to a gluten free one, just by using gluten-free brown-rice penne pasta (I used Tinkyada brand).
Step-by-step photos to illustrate the cooking process:
In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat, until onion softens. Add tomatoes, vodka, crushed red pepper, basil, oregano - break tomatoes if necessary. Bring the mixture to boil. Reduce to simmer and simmer, covered, occasionally stirring, for about 20 minutes or until sauce thickens. During the last 10 minutes, add mushrooms, and continue to simmer.
At the end of 20 minutes of simmering, mushrooms should be cooked through, and sauce will thicken:
While on low heat, add heavy cream and half & half to the sauce:
Stir everything to ensure even consistency. Add ¾ teaspoon of salt or more to season the sauce. At this point, your sauce will acquire a nice color just like that:
In the mean time, cook pasta according to package instructions - add cooked and rinsed pasta to the sauce. Reheat the sauce on low heat to heat everything through:
Penne Pasta in Creamy Vodka Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion , medium, diced
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 14 oz canned tomatoes
- ¾ cup vodka
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon basil , if you have fresh basil - use more
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup mushrooms , sliced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Half and Half
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free version, use gluten-free brown-rice penne)
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese , freshly shredded
Instructions
- In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat, until onion softens.
- Off heat, add tomatoes, vodka, crushed red pepper, basil, oregano - break tomatoes if necessary, and mix everything.
- Bring the mixture gently to medium heat. Reduce to simmer and simmer, on low heat, covered, occasionally stirring, for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens. During the last 10 minutes, add mushrooms, and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
- While on low heat, add heavy cream and half & half to the sauce and stir everything to ensure even consistency. Add ¾ teaspoon of salt or more to season the sauce.
- In the mean time, cook pasta according to package instructions. Rinse cooked pasta with cold water and drain (this stops pasta from cooking and prevents it from being too mushy). Add cooked and rinsed pasta to the sauce. Reheat the sauce on low heat to heat everything through.
- Serve each plate topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Delicious. Next time I will saute the mushrooms with the onions and garlic and let the cream sauce thicken longer or use all heavy cream.
Thank you, Ronnie, for trying this recipe - glad you liked it! 🙂
I made the sauce a day in advance and the sauce got even tastier and the vodka flavour mellowed out. I served on potato gnocchi and topped with goat cheese. Super tasty!
Wow, you turned this recipe into a wonderful meal by serving it with gnocchi and goat cheese. YUM! 🙂
I’ve made this a few times now and it continues to be amazing! I have a hard time holding myself back because it is addictive! The tomato, cream, and vodka make it really zing.
Julia, thank you for your raving review! 🙂 So glad you love this recipe and took the time to share this comment. 🙂
Was very good. I added some veggies to use up in the sauce.
We did not taste the vodka in the sauce. I'll make this again!
Thank you for your recipe!
Dunia, thank you for such a wonderful comment! Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it!
Too much vodka!! The sauce was runny and very strong vodka taste. I'm going to try to add tomato paste to salvage the rest of the dish.