Vegan penne alla vodka
Penne alla vodka is a classic recipe that has been written countless times, and almost every food blog has a version of it by now. However, that is not a reason for me to not share this lovely pasta with my readers. So here it goes – vegan penne alla vodka!
I fell in love with this recipe after making it for the first time, so it became a part of my lunch menu (which you might have been able to see if you follow me on Instagram). Other than that, I promised myself to publish more simple recipes on this blog. It is already out there, it’s pretty simple, but I guess there will always be someone who didn’t try it.
Some of my readers do not use alcohol in cooking at all, so I reduced such recipes to a minimum. I try to keep those for my personal use. But penne alla vodka are so delicious, so I wrote down the recipe for my readers who do consume/use alcohol.
It is safe to say that this is not the healthiest recipe on earth. It’s just pasta in a very delicious sauce, so there is no need for me to include a section about health benefits today. But regardless, if you decide to make this not too healthy recipe, you will certainly enjoy it.
A piece of advice
This recipe is super easy, so today I decided to only talk about the ingredients here. The first time you make vegan penne alla vodka, the process might feel a bit lengthy. Mainly because you have to assemble the ingredients and follow instructions carefully. But after you do it once you will get the hang of it, and can easily become an everyday meal.
In a regular penne alla vodka recipe people usually use heavy cream. The closest thing I had was coconut cream, so that’s what I used. Coconut cream is sold in cans, usually in the Asian food section of a store. If you can’t find it, buy some full-fat coconut milk (also in a can), leave it in a fridge and use the cream that forms on the top of the can.
There are plenty of versions of vegan parmesan, so make sure you use your favorite one. I prefer to also mix some of it in the sauce towards the end. You can try to do that as well.
Red pepper can be used instead of chili. Feel free to add a few chopped leaves of parsley or sprinkle with some oregano before you serve. And taste the sauce towards the end of cooking to see if you need some more salt or pepper.
I don’t think it’s really necessary to stress this, but – make sure your pasta is vegan. Some brands use eggs. When you cook your pasta, make sure it is cooked al dente. In cooking, al dente describes pasta or rice that is cooked to be firm to the bite. The etymology is Italian “to the tooth”.
Vegan penne alla vodka
Ingredients
150 g of penne pasta
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 medium sized onion
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
¼ tsp of chili flakes
1/3 tsp of pepper
4-5 tbsp of vodka
100 g of crushed tomatoes
100 g of coconut cream
Vegan parmesan
Basil leaves
Directions
- Chop the onion and crush the garlic cloves. Prepare all the ingredients you’re going to need.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add some salt and and put the penne in. Cook them until they become al dente. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
- Drizzle the olive oil in a deep non-stick pan and heat it to medium heat. Add the onions, chili flakes and garlic to the pan and cook them until the onion becomes translucent (about 3 minutes).
- Reduce the heat a bit, add the vodka and cook until about half of it evaporates (2 to 3 minutes). Put the tomatoes in the pan. Wash out the remaining tomatoes from the can (or bowl) with a little bit of water and toss it in the pan. Increase the temperature to medium again and let everything simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Add the pepper and mix in the coconut cream. Stir until the sauce becomes of somewhat pinkish color. If your pasta is cooked already, drain the water and add the penne to the pan. Stir everything until the penne are completely covered in vodka sauce. You can add some vegan parmesan at this point if you want.
- Transfer everything on a plate and top off with vegan parmesan and basil leaves. Serve vegan penne alla vodka right away.
If you liked this recipe, make sure you check out my other recipes like:
– vegan cheung fun (rice noodles)
Feel free to tell me what you think about this in the comments below, or send me the pictures of your own vegan penne alla vodka. If you did something differently, I would also like to hear that, I’d love to see the things you come up with.
P.S. for more recipes like this and a bunch of other stuff, follow me on Instagram, @margo_drobi.
Also, I recently started a Patreon page, where you can subscribe and help me create more/better content. In return, you will get an exclusive piece of content (recipe) each month. My plan is to increase the amount of that content if I gain a few subscribers. If you are interested and you want to find out more, I will leave the link to my Patreon right – here.