THE LAST TIME WE MADE PENNE ALLA VODKA, we had just come from a four-day final push of helping our Detroit daughter move. So it seems somehow fitting that we made it again after being in Michigan, albeit purely for recreation this time. Marion and I took a little day trip to Kalamazoo.
Lunch and day drinking on the patio at Bell’s Brewery’s Eccentric Cafe. A visit to the small but stellar Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; their permanent collection turns inclusiveness into a political statement, exhibiting a wealth of art by under-represented women and people-of-color artists. Kalamazoo is also apparently home to many, many plant nurseries. To get to the excellent River Street Flowerland where we found beautiful plants for far less than in Chicago, we drove past at least two others. And finally, some successful antiquing at the Burgess Antique Center.
What brought Penne Alla Vodka to mind when we got home was (a) having the ingredients on hand and (b) it being reasonably easy to pull together rather quickly. This retro classic combines tomatoes, butter, cream and vodka to create a lively, rich dinner. You can leave out the sausage to make it vegetarian.
And what brought this dish to mind for sharing again was an intriguing article about swapping mezcal for the vodka to give it a nice smoky taste. Being mezcal lovers, we may get around to trying that soon. In the meantime, here’s our recipe for the classic.
I have to be in the mood for pasta, especially in a tomato sauce. I’m not sure why because I love tomatoes. Quirky, I know… ?
It’s perfect that you posted this recipe now. I don’t have a vodka sauce recipe under my belt, but I’ve been thinking about it recently. Or rather, I ran across a note I’d written in my ‘to be cooked’ notebook about someone who was raving about a pasta dish where gin was substituted for the vodka.
I’m getting closer to trying that variation…
Thanks!