I tried Ina Garten's penne alla vodka, and it's one of the best pasta dishes I've ever made

The "Barefoot Contessa" star first inspired me to take cooking seriously in May 2020. Her easy and foolproof recipes gave me the confidence I needed in those early days of the pandemic when I barely knew my way around a kitchen.

I've now made dozens of Garten's recipes from her 12 cookbooks, including 10 of her pasta dishes (you can read my full "Barefoot Contessa" pasta ranking here).

Every month or so, I like to try a new one. And as I searched for a comforting winter dish, I stumbled on Garten's penne alla vodka.

In an early episode of "Barefoot Contessa," Garten revealed that one of her favorite dishes was the Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola from Nick & Toni's, a restaurant in East Hampton.

Joe Realmuto, Nick & Toni's longtime executive chef, showed her how to make the dish. Now the recipe has a permanent spot on Garten's Barefoot Contessa website, so I knew I had to try it.

Here's how it all went down.

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

• 3/4 pound penne (Garten recommends DeCecco)
• 2 ½ cups chopped yellow onions
• 2 28-ounce cans of whole-peeled plum tomatoes, drained
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)
• ¼ cup good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves (plus extra for serving)
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

I chopped my yellow onions and minced my garlic cloves in a matter of minutes.

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

I cooked my veggies and herbs together for one minute.

Garten says to simmer everything together for about five to seven minutes, until the mixture has reduced by half (it took me about five minutes).

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

I added two teaspoons of salt and half a teaspoon of black pepper.

The sauce needs to bake for one-and-a-half hours, so I made sure to start cooking long before I was hungry for dinner.

I know it's not the quickest meal, but I promise this dish is worth the wait!

I brought a large pot of water to a boil and added the penne along with two tablespoons of salt. 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 until it's smooth using either a blender or food processor fitted with a steel blade.

I seasoned the mixture with one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper.

My sauce was almost ready!

It reminded me of the legendary vodka pasta I've had at Jon & Vinny's in Los Angeles (a Kardashian favorite).

Garten says your sauce should simmer for 10 minutes.

I let the pasta cook in the sauce for an additional two minutes.

It was time to eat!

This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful pasta I've ever made. The vivid color of the sauce made Garten's penne alla vodka the star of my dinner table, and I loved the extra pop of color from the fresh oregano.

Ever since I began ranking Garten's pasta dishes back in May 2021, nothing has come close to topping her weeknight bolognese. But after I had one bite of the penne alla vodka, I knew that was going to change.

This pasta dish is simply fantastic. 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 some extra time in the oven, it doesn't require that many steps. The actual prep and cooking was pretty minimal, but the penne still looked so impressive.

Whether you need a dish to dazzle everyone with during the holidays, or just want a comforting bowl of penne when the temperature gets even more chilly, there's truly no better pasta than this.