PENNE WITH VODKA SAUCE IS SIMPLE & SENSATIONAL
Baked or not, this easy-to-make pasta meal is always a tasty treat
My best friend and I used to joke about hosting a show where people bring us their problems and listen to us overthink them.
They wouldn't have to say a thing! We would do all the analyzing for them. (I mean ... I'd watch it!)
To say I excel at overthinking would be an understatement. Even the simplest thing — say, a pasta dish — can inspire a cascade of thoughts. Which brings me to this recipe. I overthought it so you don't have to.
I originally intended for this to be a baked pasta dish, like baked ziti but with penne vodka (plus some spinach to make it a more complete meal). I went ahead and made a simple vodka sauce, stirred it together with cooked penne and some frozen spinach, tasted it, loved it, then piled it in a baking dish with tons of cheese. But it somehow was not as good as it was before I baked it.
I decided to just simplify.
The recipe was so good before I baked it — like really, really good. So why not let it be that?
Making this shift not only made the recipe faster and easier (and eliminated the need to wash a baking dish), but it also reminded me that it's OK to change my mind.
Sometimes, I have to know when to stop or edit, to remember when it's time to leave the party, so to speak. That said, if the idea of a baked pasta sounds like exactly what you want, I've got you. Just skip the final 2 minutes of cooking on the stovetop, and place half the sauced pasta in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, sprinkle over 3/4 cup (180 ml) of grated mozzarella and 1/2 cup (125 ml) of grated Parmesan (it gives the pasta the salt it needs to get through baking), then repeat the layering once more. Bake, uncovered, at 400 F (205 C) for about 20 minutes, or until it is gorgeously browned and the edges are bubbling.