pasta with pancetta & vodka sauce

Who doesn’t like love a little booze in their dinner? No, not with, but in, your dinner. Oh yeah, I have my hand raised. I think that alcohol always gives the dish more flavor and no, it won’t get you drunk, unless you drink that bottle of wine while you’re cooking ;) but it brings out the flavors.

There was a lot of first’s in this particular dish. First, I never cooked with pancetta before. GASP. I know. I love bacon but pancetta is bacon on crack, at least in my opinion. I like it more than regular bacon. Maybe because it sounds fancier or maybe because the Italians use it, who knows. I just like the flavor more. Second, I’ve never made vodka sauce before. Are you shaking your head at me? Please stop, if you are :) I was recently reading Bev‘s blog & she had made vodka sauce and then my coworker had brought up vodka sauce and I said “man, I’ve had enough of this vodka sauce talk, I must make it.” And so here we are.

Pancetta and vodka sauce. What a fab combination of flavors. The pancetta drippings with the creamy vodka tomato sauce brings out such well-rounded flavors in your mouth. It’s seriously addicting. If you’re shoveling this pasta in your mouth, I won’t judge you.

Pasta with Pancetta and Vodka Sauce

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Serving size: 4

Ingredients:

16 oz. penne pasta

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 oz. pancetta, diced (if you can find it thick cut at your butcher/deli, go for that. My grocery store only had the pre-packaged kind that was thinly cut)

1/3 cup of (good) vodka (good meaning something you would drink)

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 1/2 cup of homemade marinara sauce or jarred

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for your pasta.
2. Using a nonstick skillet and brown your pancetta on medium heat.
3. Once your pancetta is browned, add in the vodka and let it cook with the pancetta until it’s reduced by half. Takes about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in the marinara sauce and whisk in the heavy cream.
5. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.
6. While the sauce is simmering, add in your pasta to the boiling salted water.
7. When pasta is done, drain it, and add it to the vodka sauce. Toss to coat well.
8. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Adapted from Just a Taste