This Italian inspired dreamy dinner for 2 is a perfect weekday meal. The delicious pan-seared wild shrimp is coated in a light creamy vodka sauce pan is a simple meal that is so scrumptious. Ready in under 30 minutes!
This dish is not only comforting during these cold winter months, but it’s one with lots of flavours that has you going back for more. As I was deciding on the ingredients for this dish, I wanted to keep it simple, very little cream, slightly spicy and yet to keep it as authentic as well.
INGREDIENTS
- Pasta: spaghetti was my choice for this recipe, other options are penne or rigatoni
- Extra virgin olive oil: a good quality is my preference
- Garlic
- Crushed tomatoes
- Marinara sauce: homemade or store bought
- Seasonings: salt and pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- Vodka
- Cream: I used 10% half and half cream
- Parsley
- Parmesan cheese
There is nothing better than a comforting pasta meal and in this case the vodka sauce is luxurious yet light in texture since I only added 1/4 cup of cream with my homemade marinara sauce and crushed tomatoes. I added a few red pepper flakes just to give it a kick and honestly, the heat is warming and comforting.
Don’t let the vodka deter you from trying this recipe. The alcohol in the vodka actually reduces when cooked. What it does, it gives this dish a lovely lemony taste and balances the flavours. It is so delicious and you can’t taste the vodka at all.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Cook your pasta on medium-high heat, bring a medium sauce pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al denta. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium to high heat, add shrimp and pan sear for about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.
Add garlic and cook for about 30-40 seconds until fragrant.
Add the crushed tomatoes, marinara sauce, red pepper flakes and salt, simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in vodka and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the cream and return shrimp to the skillet and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, add the remaining parsley. If desired, add Parmesan.
I chose to use spaghetti as my pasta and other options are penna, rigatoni or a linguine. Sometimes, you just use what is in your pantry and that’s okay.
Shrimp: I like to use wild pacific caught shrimp as it is more sustainably approved rather than a farm-raised shrimp.
Marinara sauce: In my recipe I used my homemade marinara sauce and it only takes a few minutes to put together and 20 minutes to simmer. Sometimes, I like to make a large pot and freeze it and then it comes in handy for my next recipe. Store-bought marinara sauce will do the trick!
Cream: I notice many recipes use heavy cream, however I like to keep it light in texture and I prefer more of a tomato sauce flavour and texture.
When making homemade pasta recipes, there are so many options which is the beauty of customizing your own flavours. I grew up in an Eastern Europeon Hungarian family so the only Italian meals we had was Homemade Spaghetti and Hungarian-style Meatballs and we loved it! Then there is the Easy Vegan Mushroom Bolognese which I absolutely loved and maybe it because I love mushrooms. If you haven’t try this recipe, I highly recommend it!!
This dish can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 days and freeze for about a month. Make sure you store it in an airtight container suitable for the freezer.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE….
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS, FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS. ALSO DON’T FORGET TO RATE IT! 🙂
Easy Pasta Vodka Sauce and Shrimp Recipe
Equipment
- 1 medium skillet or cast iron pan
- 1 colander
- medium sauce pot
Ingredients
- 6 oz pasta, spaghetti or penne
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lb wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups marinara sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup vodka
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped, divided
- Parmesan, grated
Instructions
- On medium-high heat, bring a medium sauce pot of water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al denta. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium to high heat, add shrimp and pan sear for about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.
- Add in garlic and cook for about 30-40 seconds until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes, marinara sauce, red pepper flakes and salt, simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in vodka and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and return shrimp to the skillet and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the remaining parsley. If desired, add Parmesan.