FOOD NEWS
Lidia Bastianich's Off-Menu Pasta Dish Is A Huge Hit With Customers
by HANNAH SKINNER
Chef Lidia Bastianich is famous for her Italian-American cuisine. She shared a popular pasta dish customers order from her off-menu at restaurants: penne rigate in vodka sauce.
This dish, penne alla vodka, is fairly simple to make. It's tomato-based and distinguished by adding vodka and cream, giving it a rosy color and rich flavor.
Although the dish is relatively new and its origins are debatable, Chef Luigi Franzese of Orsini Restaurant in NYC is credited with popularizing it in the '80s.
The dish has become a staple in Italian-American cuisine. Its popularity may stem from the balance of cream, tomato, and vodka.