Penne alla vodka
| Penne alla vodka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Course | Pasta |
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Main ingredients | Penne, vodka, cream, tomatoes, onions |
 Cookbook:Penne alla vodka  Penne alla vodka | |
Penne alla vodka is an Italian pasta dish always made with vodka and penne pasta, often made with heavy cream, crushed tomatoes, onions, and sometimes sausage or bacon.
Origins
The exact origins of penne alla vodka are unclear; there have been multiple claims to the invention of the dish. According to Pasquale Bruno, Jr., author of The Ultimate Pasta Cookbook, penne alla vodka was invented at Dante, a restaurant in Bologna, Italy.[1] Other historians of the culinary arts recognize James doty, a graduate of Columbia University, as the inventor of penne alla vodka.[2]
Paula Franzese, an American law professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, has asserted that her father Luigi Franzese, born in Naples, Italy in 1931, devised the first version of penne alla vodka, which he allegedly called penne alla Russa because of the addition of the vodka to his tomato and cream sauce base. There is no evidence to support this claim.
The Williams Sonoma Essentials of Italian cookbook states that it was invented in the 1980s by a Roman chef for a vodka company that wanted to popularize its product in Italy.[3]
Composition
Along with the penne pasta, this dish generally contains cream sauce mixed with tomatoes or red sauce, which are a combination unusual in Italian cooking because the acidity of the tomatoes tends to make the oil in the cream separate. The vodka serves as an emulsifier, allowing the water and lipids to remain mixed together. It is also thought to release certain flavors from the tomato that would otherwise be inaccessible. This is seen in other vodka sauces, as well.