Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola

From EatingWell: April/May 2006, EatingWell Serves Two

Our velvety tomato sauce is spiked with cubes of salty capicola and a few shots of vodka. Make it a Meal: Caesar salad and a glass of Pinot Noir will shine with this dish.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Tried this recipe tonight.. used what I had for ingredients. The only thing I lacked was the italian meat, so I used regular turkey bacon instead, and sprinkled some italian seasonings in it. It turned out quite well, and my husband and...

Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola Recipe

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6 Reviews for Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola

07/12/2011

knutsola

Recommends this recipe

Flavorful enough for grown-ups, easy to make kid-friendly

I loved the idea of adding worcestershire sauce and capicola to add a smoky flavor to this tomato sauce. To go with this theme (and make it sweeter for my kids) I used roasted canned tomatoes, added a roasted red pepper (in a jar) and substituted 1tsp smoked tabasco sauce for the crushed red peppers (my kids are wimps). Amazing flavor! I also put the sauce in the blender to make the texture kid-friendly. This is my new tomato sauce stand-by!

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06/23/2011

thewickedfae

Missing something...

This recipe is missing something. It was fairly bland. It needs something in the sauce and could do with more veggies, I think. I put a little Splenda in the sauce to take some of the tang out of the crushed tomatoes but it needs something more. The half and half doesn't really do what it's meant to here and the meal just tastes like you poured thickened crushed tomatoes with cooked onions and a dash of crushed red pepper over penne then sprinkled a little bit of capicola/pancetta on top for the fun of it. I used pancetta and it didn't really add much to the overall flavor as the recipe doesn't call for very much of it then asks you to drain it on paper towels which takes away most of its flavor-giving properties anyway.

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07/21/2010

Anonymous

Tried this recipe tonight.. used what I had for ingredients. The only thing I lacked was the italian meat, so I used regular turkey bacon instead, and sprinkled some italian seasonings in it. It turned out quite well, and my husband and daughter loved it. I used fat free half n half to cut calories, and since turkey bacon doesnt create much oil, I used a couple tablespoons of olive oil. And, because I cut the calories with the half n half, I topped it with a little mozzarella cheese and the bacon. I enjoyed it, and will definitely make this again. Next time though, I want to try it with the pancetta. :)

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03/11/2010

ashleymflynn

Not our favorite, too tangy and acidic for us. We'll stick to the traditional spaghetti sauce.

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01/24/2010

ALBANO4505

I made the recipe for 6 and then froze half the sauce (didn't want to be tempted to eat more than the "allotment") I used the exact 6 ounces of pasta. We had more than enough for dinner with a nice salad. There were leftovers which my husband ate for lunch today. Nice recipe, but not a creamy as I thought it might be - and we could not taste even a hint of the vodka. We are very happy with Eating Well's recipes and are both learning about portions.

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