A pumpkin and tomato cream sauce is simmered with caramelized shallots, fresh herbs, Parmesan, and a splash of vodka and crispy bacon. Creamy, comforting, and so flavorful, this pumpkin vodka penne is an Autumnal twist on a classic dish. Bonus, this easy weeknight meal takes only 30 minutes to make!
One of my favorite pastas is penne alla vodka. Piercing al dente pasta smothered in an herby tomato cream sauce with crispy bacon crumbled within is pure comfort food. Now that Fall is here, I switched things up to include pure pumpkin puree in this rich and flavor packed dinner.
This is not a boring pasta! This is an exciting, wake your taste buds and smack your lips type of pasta. Most recipes like Pumpkin Baked Donuts or Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes call for a fraction of a can of pumpkin. So this dinner recipe is also a creative and savory way to use up any of that pure pumpkin puree that you will have in abundance this time of the year.
SOS, I have gone pumpkin crazy. Again. The good news for you is that I have so many yummy Fall recipes in the line up, like this comforting pumpkin vodka penne. In other news, my Instagram feed has gone completely neutral in Fall colors. I suppose I have brown, orange, and yellow on my brain. Everything around me translates to food inspiration!
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Easy Weeknight Meal For Adults
Now that Bea is in school all day, it’s dinner go time the second she gets off the bus. The evening I came up with this Pumpkin pasta recipe, the girls wanted buttered noodles. As much as I love buttered noodles, I wanted something better than that for dinner. After a long week, Mom Life needed some flavor on a Friday night! Since I was making noodles for the girls anyway, I decided to develop a new pasta recipe for Grant and myself. And you all, of course! For this pasta, I made a quick and easy version of my usual vodka tomato sauce, but this one includes pumpkin.
In my normal vodka cream sauce, I cook a fresh tomato sauce down for hours to simmer out the alcohol. But for this pumpkin vodka sauce, I made this an adult 30 minute dinner recipe. Note that since there isn’t much simmer time the alcohol won’t cook out over time. Keep that in mind. But if you wanted to use this for a family dinner night, simple swap out the vodka for chicken broth. I will give instructions for that in the recipe section.
This is an easy dinner recipe that only takes 30 minutes to make. The result is a bold, creamy, and perfect for Fall. This pumpkin vodka penne would be perfect for a dinner party or any evening you need to whip up a quick yet flavor packed meal. It is luscious and a cozy cold weather dinner that is so crowd pleasing.
San Marzano Tomatoes
This recipe for pumpkin penne uses canned San Marzano Tomatoes. These tomatoes are a bit different from normal plum tomatoes. They are a variety of the plum tomato. However, they have a more pronounced tomato flavor, a freshness, and more balanced and less acidic taste. They are a litle more expensive than usual canned tomatoes. But this is my canned tomato of choice for this pumpkin vodka penne and Spicy Eggplant Marinara Sauce. Standard canned tomatoes can be substitute if you prefer.
Pumpkin Vodka Sauce
This pumpkin vodka sauce is so easy to make! It also yields a gorgeous colored sauce that fills your house with a savory scent of Autumn.
First, cook some bacon. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Use non stick foil to line a large baking sheet. Then place slices of thick, applewood smoked bacon in a single layer. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. Then remove to paper towels to cool. Once it is cool, crumble it or chop into tiny bits. Set aside for later. To make this pumpkin vodka penne meatless, leave out the bacon.
For this pumpkin vodka sauce, use a dutch oven or a large pot. Start off by chopping up a large shallot, some garlic, and the herbs. A nice aspect of this easy dinner idea is that you will be making a puree at the end. That means, you only have to roughly chop the shallots and garlic.
Heat up olive oil in the pot over medium heat. Then add the shallots and saute for a few minutes, until caramelized. Then add the garlic. Cook for a minute longer, add the herbs and touch of crushed red pepper. Then add a hefty splash of vodka to deglaze the pan and scrape up all of the caramelized bits. Then add the pumpkin puree. Remember to use pure pumpkin for this recipe.
Next, drain out a can of whole, peeled, San Marzano Tomatoes before adding them to the pumpkin mixture. Cook this mixture for about fifteen minutes, using a large spoon to crush up the tomatoes as they simmer.
To finish off this incredible smelling pasta sauce turn it into a puree. Simply use an immersion blender (or a blender) to turn this into a smooth sauce. Then comes the richness. Add heavy cream, bacon, and Parmesan cheese. Turn the heat to low and simmer the sauce until the pasta is cooked.
Penne Pasta
While the sauce simmers, get some water boiling for penne pasta. Add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Once it is boiling, add the penne and cook al dente, according to the directions.
Al dente pasta is tender yet is just slightly under cooked to give it bite and a firm texture. To make the pasta “al dente” take off a couple of minutes from the lowest cooking time on the directions. Check the pasta by carefully removing one with a fork to check for firmness. Then either drain it at this time or let it cook for another minute more. When it is ready, drain the pasta. Then add it to the pasta sauce and toss it well to coat.
To serve, sprinkle on more Parmesan cheese and chopped herbs. Also, this pasta sauce coats any kind of pasta to perfection! To switch up your pasta, try making Homemade Pasta!
Pumpkin Vodka Penne
A pumpkin and tomato cream sauce pasta sauce is simmered with caramelized shallots, fresh herbs, Parmesan, and a splash of vodka and crispy bacon. Creamy, comforting, and so flavorful, this pumpkin vodka penne is an Autumnal twist on a classic dish. Bonus, this easy weeknight meal takes only 30 minutes to make!
Ingredients
- 1 large shallot
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 thick slices of applewood smoked bacon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ¼ cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 32 oz. can whole San Marzano Tomatoes drained
- 10 large basil leaves fresh
- 4 sprigs fresh oregano leaves pulled from stems
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup vodka
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping
- 16 oz penne pasta cooked per box instructions
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Use non stick foil to line a large baking sheet. Then place bacon in a single layer.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until the bacon is crispy.
Then remove to paper towels to cool. Once it is cool, crumble it or chop into tiny bits. Set aside for later.
Roughly chop the shallots and garlic.
Gather the fresh herbs and pull the leaves from the stems. Set aside.
Heat up olive oil in the pot over medium heat. Then add the shallots and saute for a few minutes, until caramelized. Then add the garlic. Cook for a minute longer, add the herbs and touch of crushed red pepper.
Then add a hefty splash of vodka to deglaze the pan and scrape up all of the caramelized bits. Next, add the pumpkin puree.
Meanwhile, drain out a can of whole, peeled, San Marzano Tomatoes before adding them to the pumpkin mixture. Cook this mixture for about ten fifteen minutes, using a large spoon to crush it up the tomatoes as they simmer.
Next, use an immersion blender (or a blender) to turn the pumpkin mixture into pureed sauce.
Add heavy cream, bacon, and Parmesan cheese. Turn the heat to low and simmer the sauce until the pasta is cooked.
PENNE PASTA
While the sauce simmers, get some water boiling for penne pasta. Add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Once it is boiling, add the penne and cook al dente, according to the directions.
Drain the pasta. Add it to the pasta sauce and toss it well to coat.
To serve, sprinkle on more parmesan cheese and chopped herbs. To switch up your pasta, try making Homemade Pasta!
Recipe Notes
To make this without vodka, simply swap out the vodka for chicken broth.
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