Instead of trying to mill whole tomatoes when I don't have a mill, can I substitute the same size can of tomato puree or crushed tomatoe?

I used passata and it worked really well. If you want more texture crushed tomatoes would be fune

The first time I made this, I milled canned whole tomatoes. The next time, I used crushed tomatoes in heavy puree, no milling. Both were delicious! I slightly preferred the crushed tomatoes but it will be great either way. This is a fantastic recipe!

Thanks for your question. We agree with using crushed tomatoes over puree. As another person mentioned, you can blend the tomatoes in a blender or food processor first if you want smooth sauce. If you don't mind chunks, use them as is. Good luck!

Yes. It calls for smooth tomato sauce, so tomato puree should be fine. Penne Alla Vodka typically has a smooth sauce, no chunks. But I like chunks myself so for me, crushed tomatoes would be fine too. You might need to include a little juice from that can if you used crushed tomatoes, but go slowly with adding that.

I'd use crushed tomatoes. You also can blitz whole peeled tomatoes with some juice in a food processor.