Turning twenty-one is a milestone birthday I’ve since passed. In all honestly, I looked forward to the cooking aspect much more than the shots in a bar part.
I’ll never forget one summer afternoon back in high school, I was watching Everyday Italian. Giada was making a dessert that had me glued to the screen. I had to make it. However, there was one caveat: the main ingredient was limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur. That dessert wasn’t the only recipe I was restricted from making. My birthday card should have shown tiramisu, beef bourguignon, beer cheese soup, crepes suzette, and my all-time favorite Italian dish: penne alla vodka.
Cooking with alcohol seems intimidating. Would flames shoot into the air once I added the vodka to the skillet? Thankfully, they don’t. Unless you add the fire.
I’ve made this recipe several times now. I crave it. Timing the sauce and pasta to finish simultaneously is a bit tricky. I begin by boiling water immediately simply because it takes forever on my stove. Then I prep the onion and tomatoes. The sauce cooks quickly. In eight minutes, the boozy flavor of the vodka cooks off leaving a hint of tang. I also love that this recipe isn’t overly rich. It strikes the perfect balance showcasing plenty of tomato sweetness, zest, and tang.
