High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Vodka sauce is an Italian red sauce made from a relatively smooth tomato sauce, plus cream, vodka, and typical Italian herbs. It gained popularity in the 1970s, when a variation won a national recipe contest in Italy. It is a key ingredient in penne alla vodka, although it may well have been a sauce before its "invention" in the 1970s. The vodka's function is, ostensibly, to release flavors in the tomato that are normally inaccessible; using alcohol for this purpose is common in Italian cooking, although more often with a wine.