Ever since I began ranking Ina Garten’s pasta dishes back in 2021, nothing has come close to topping her weeknight Bolognese.
That all changed when I tried her penne alla vodka.
The recipe was inspired by one of Garten’s favorite dishes, the Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola from Nick & Toni’s, a restaurant in East Hampton.
Now, it has a permanent spot on my list of best Barefoot Contessa dishes.
You probably already have most of the ingredients for Ina Garten’s penne alla vodka.
To make Garten’s penne alla vodka for four, you’ll need:
- ¾ pound of penne (Garten recommends DeCecco)
- 2 ½ cups of chopped yellow onions
- 2 28-ounce cans of whole peeled plum tomatoes, drained
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1 cup of vodka
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)
- ¼ cup of good olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano leaves (plus extra for serving)
- 1 ½ teaspoons of dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes
To get started, I chopped my onions and minced my garlic.
My prep was done in a matter of minutes.
I threw the onions into my Dutch oven, where I had already heated some olive oil.
I cooked my onions over medium-low heat for about five minutes, until they turned translucent.
I added the garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano once my onions were cooked.
I cooked everything together for one minute.
Then I added the vodka.
The recipe says to simmer everything together for about five to seven minutes, until the mixture has reduced by half.
Next, I threw in the whole peeled plum tomatoes.
I crushed each whole tomato into the pot with my hand, per Garten’s instructions.
After seasoning the sauce with salt and pepper, I covered my pot and threw it into the oven.
The sauce needs to bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, so I started cooking long before dinner.
It’s not the quickest meal, but I promise this dish is worth the wait!
Just before my sauce was ready, I began cooking the pasta.
I brought a large pot of salted water to a boil and added the penne.
I cooked my pasta until it was al dente, which took about 10 minutes. Then I drained my noodles and set them aside.
Once my sauce was out of the oven, I threw it in the blender.
Garten says to purée the tomato mixture using a blender or food processor until it’s smooth.
I poured my puréed tomato mixture back into the Dutch oven.
I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, then added the fresh oregano and heavy cream.
The color transformed as I stirred the pot.
The hue reminded me of the famous vodka pasta at Jon & Vinny’s in Los Angeles.
I partially covered my Dutch oven and let the sauce simmer.
The sauce should simmer for 10 minutes.
When my sauce was ready, I threw in the pasta.
I let the pasta cook for two more minutes in the sauce.
I took my Dutch oven off the heat and stirred in the Parmesan cheese.
Dinner was ready!
As I topped everything with extra Parmesan and oregano, I couldn’t help but admire the dish.
This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful pasta I’ve ever made.
Garten’s penne alla vodka is simply fantastic.
The sauce is so creamy and smooth without being heavy and overwhelming. Slowly roasting the tomato sauce in the oven added depth and complexity to the vodka sauce, which I actually loved even more than my favorite from Jon & Vinny’s. My only wish was that I had made some of Garten’s “outrageous” garlic bread to go with it!
While Garten’s pasta needs a bit more time in the oven, it doesn’t require many steps. The actual prep and cooking were pretty minimal, but the penne still looked really impressive.
Whether you need a recipe to dazzle everyone with or want to whip up a comforting dish, there’s truly no better pasta than this.
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