Baked Penne with Vodka Sauce, Ricotta & Sausage

This recipe for baked penne pasta combines homemade vodka sauce, with ricotta cheese and crumbled Italian sausage. It’s my go-to pasta casserole to serve friends and family, because it’s easy to make ahead of time and freeze wonderfully! 

 

Baked Penne with Sausage in a Vodka Sauce

While everyone loves lasagna, it has a lot of red sauce.  After trying a vodka sauce at an Italian restaurant in DC, I really wanted to experiment making it at home.  This recipe for baked penne with sausage or penne alla vodka is one of my new favorites that I make over and over again.

Pasta casserole recipes are great to take to a friend who is under the weather. The kids always ask for it when they come home and want to take the leftovers home with them. It’s really easy to double this recipe and it makes great leftovers. 

Everyone just raves about this recipe, and I have to admit, I love the combination of flavors. It has become my go to dinner for when friends are coming over or the kids are coming home. All you need is a spinach salad and some buttermilk biscuits. It’s comfort food like spaghetti casserole with ground beef.

This baked penne with ricotta is a bit like lasagna but easier and the vodka sauce puts this over the top.  With vodka sauce with sausage, the sauce has a bit of cream, which cuts down on the overpowering red sauce that you see in some Italian dishes, and the vodka adds the most unique flavor.

Of course I used Tiny Cat Vodka from our local distillery. If you’re in the area, check out Fainting Goat Spirits. The tour is super fun and everyone loves Bill and Andrew.

Most penne alla vodka recipes are simply vodka sauce and pasta and don’t contain meat. However, the sausage adds so much flavor to this hearty casserole, I would not leave it out.

Why You’ll Love Baked Penne with Sausage

• Vodka adds a delicious and unique flavor to the red sauce
• This easily doubles for a great recipe to deliver to someone who needs something special or if your feeding a crowd.
• You can make it ahead and freeze.
• Similar to lasagna but creamier.

What you’ll need to make Ricotta Pasta Alla Vodka

Vodka Sauce with Sausage

• Sweet Italian & Hot Italian Sausage – the mix kicks up your pasta dish!
• Onions – lots of onions, lots of flavor.
• Vodka – this is a unique flavor in the sauce that’s memorable.
• Whole tomatoes crushed with their juice – this is an important ingredient to your sauce, Italian like San Marzano are the best if you can find them.
• Spices – cayenne, dried thyme, fresh basil
• Cream – this breaks up the sauce and gives it the signature pink look a vodka sauce is known for.

Cheese and Pasta

• Penne pasta -it’s what is traditional served with this sauce but I actually prefer a larger pasta.
• Ricotta cheese – if you have an Italian market, see if they have ricotta, it is amazing. It is still fantastic with the type you can find at the grocery.
• Pantry staples – garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper

How Do You Make Penne with Ricotta and Suasage

Step 1: Make the sauce

To make this amazing casserole, you start out by cooking the Italian sausage then add onions and seasoning and finally the vodka along with some crushed tomatoes.  This will simmer for 40 minutes and then you will add the cream.

Step 2: Make the pasta

While the sauce is cooking, cook the penne and add the cooked pasta to a mixture of ricotta, parmesan and olive oil. 

Once the pasta is well coated, the meat sauce is added and you dump it into a casserole dish and cover with cheese. 

Step 3: Bake

Bake for about 45 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden

The sauce has to simmer for about 40 minutes but its hands off after about 20 minutes of prep time.  The result is a rich and creamy dinner that makes enough to share. 

I found the original recipe that I worked with in one of Food & Wine Best of the Best. These books contain recipes from 25 cookbooks that they have compiled into a book. This way you get to sample recipes to help you decide whether to buy the individual cookbooks. This recipe was from Emeril’s Potluck.  I found several recipes in this compilation that were real keepers. What a great way to check out some cookbooks. You can grab the older versions for less than $10.00 on Amazon.

This is a great dish to make ahead. Just assemble it and put it in the freezer. Then if you need to take dinner to a friend or maybe a new mom, you’re all set.  If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to let a sauce simmer for 40 minutes, you can try spaghetti alla vodka which uses a prepared vodka sauce.

Recipe tips

• You can substitute shallots for a slightly milder onion flavor. They are smaller than white or yellow onions, so grab a couple.
• If you don’t like a lot of heat, substitute mild sausage for the spicy.
• Half-and-half can be substituted for heavy cream if you want to lighten up the sauce a bit.

Penne Alla Vodka FAQs

Can you get tipsy from the vodka in this vodka sauce?

While all of the sauce will not burn off, there is not enough to affect anyone’s sobriety. Think of it like you would vanilla.

Why do you use sausage in this dish?

While traditional penne alla vodka does not contain meat, the Italian sausage and hot sausage add so much flavor to this sauce.

What type of pasta can you use with a vodka sauce?

Since the sauce is so amazing, choose a pasta that can grab the sauce. Any tubular pasta, or even elbow pasta or spghetti will work. A smaller pasta like penne makes it easier to eat.

Can you use dried basil?

Yes, you can use dried basil if fresh is not available. Since dried basil is more concentrated, you will need to use half as much or ⅛ cup of dried basil.

Looking for more casserole dinners

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.