Vodka sauce is a favorite Italian American sauce that became widely popular in the 1980s. It was first invented in the 1960s by an Italian chef at a restaurant in New York. The recipe continues to evolve today with modern upscale Italian American restaurant Carbone making a spicy vodka rigatoni a signature item.

This variation of penne with vodka sauce substitutes sour cream for the heavy cream in the original. The sour cream adds a tangy flavor to the sauce, another layer of complexity.

Once the sour cream is added, the sauce will thicken quickly, so watch the heat to prevent the dairy from burning. The sauce shouldn’t break if it cools, so better to take it off the heat than burn the sour cream if the pasta isn’t ready when the sauce is.

Recipe:

Ingredients

an onion
some garlic
crushed red pepper
diced tomatoes, box or large can
sugar
vodka
three big spoonfuls of sour cream

Instructions

Chop the onion and garlic
Heat oil, adding onion and garlic
When onions are translucent, add tomatoes
Add red pepper, salt
Add sugar if tomatoes are bitter
Once combined, drip in about a shot of vodka
Simmer for a minute or two.
Drop in three spoonfuls of sour cream
Stir until sour cream dissolves into sauce
Simmer until thick

Toss your favorite macaroni with the sauce and serve with Pecorino Romano or Parmagiana cheese. Pecorino Romano is usually cheaper than parmagiana, and it works great with this recipe because the saltiness cuts through the rich flavors of the sauce. The delicate nuttiness of Parmagiana can be lost in the heaviness of the cream, so save it for a lighter dish.

Read all about this and other historic sauces in Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American.