I tried Ina Garten’s penne alla vodka. It’s one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever made.

To make Garten’s penne alla vodka for four, you’ll need:

• ¾ pound of penne (Garten recommends DeCecco)
• 2 ½ cups of chopped yellow onions
• 2 28-ounce cans of whole peeled plum tomatoes, drained
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup of vodka
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)
• ¼ cup of good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano leaves (plus extra for serving)
• 1 ½ teaspoons of dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes

My prep was done in a matter of minutes.

I cooked my onions over medium-low heat for about five minutes, until they turned translucent.

I cooked everything together for one minute.

The recipe says to simmer everything together for about five to seven minutes, until the mixture has reduced by half.

I crushed each whole tomato into the pot with my hand, per Garten’s instructions.

The sauce needs to bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, so I started cooking long before dinner.

It’s not the quickest meal, but I promise this dish is worth the wait!

I brought a large pot of salted water to a boil and added the penne.

I cooked my pasta until it was al dente, which took about 10 minutes. Then I drained my noodles and set them aside.

Garten says to purée the tomato mixture using a blender or food processor until it’s smooth.

I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, then added the fresh oregano and heavy cream.

The hue reminded me of the famous vodka pasta at Jon & Vinny’s in Los Angeles.

The sauce should simmer for 10 minutes.

I let the pasta cook for two more minutes in the sauce.

Dinner was ready!

This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful pasta I’ve ever made.

The sauce is so creamy and smooth without being heavy and overwhelming. Slowly roasting the tomato sauce in the oven added depth and complexity to the vodka sauce, which I actually loved even more than my favorite from Jon & Vinny’s. My only wish was that I had made some of Garten’s “outrageous” garlic bread to go with it!

While Garten’s pasta needs a bit more time in the oven, it doesn’t require many steps. The actual prep and cooking were pretty minimal, but the penne still looked really impressive.

Whether you need a recipe to dazzle everyone with or want to whip up a comforting dish, there’s truly no better pasta than this.