Craving penne alla vodka? Understandable. You could drop a lot of money at a restaurant for it, but then you’d have to spend money and leave your dorm room.
Getting out pots and pans to make some pasta yourself seems like a hassle, and every recipe out there requires a lot of effort, random ingredients that aren’t in your fridge, and a stove which you may not even have access to. Alternatively, you can follow along to this version of an easy penne alla vodka recipe while using a college student’s best friend: the microwave.
No advanced culinary knowledge is necessary to cook some delicious and simple penne alla vodka. All you need is your lazy-self and five ingredients, which can easily be found in your on-campus market or are already in your fridge.
Penne alla Vodka alla Microwave
Ingredients
Instructions
Pour as much penne as you want into a large bowl and pour in water to cover the pasta completely. Microwave for 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
As the pasta cooks, pour the tomato sauce into a bowl or mug and mix in the vodka. Wait for your pasta to be done, take it out of the microwave and set it aside. Put the sauce and vodka mixture in, microwaving for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Stir your pasta and add more water. Then, once the sauce is done, put the pasta back in the microwave for another 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
Add in the cream to your sauce—heavy, whipping, or half and half all work—and microwave for 30 more seconds.
Pour the sauce onto the pasta and add a heavy helping of cheese to thicken it. Add salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.
Even after absentmindedly putting in the cream before cooking the vodka in the tomato sauce, this meal was delicious. This just goes to show that this recipe is as fool-proof as it is easy. I usually just eyeball the 1:5 ratio of vodka/cream to tomato sauce, so feel free to add in as much cream and vodka as you’d like. Will the vodka get you drunk? According to this article, probably not—but you never know.
For the student who values the finer things in life, while remaining as lazy as possible, this recipe is sure to please you. So I recommend that you reward yourself for creating a culinary masterpiece by kicking back on your couch, and eating a big bowl of your new favorite pasta dish.