Capellini with Vodka Cream Sauce

 

So we were in the supermarket the other night and I saw hubby looking at a bottle of vodka sauce. It was rather interesting, I have never heard of "vodka sauce" in my whole life, and looking at the bottle, I thought it looked like crab fat (aligue). It was orange-y in color, not your typical red spaghetti sauce.

Needless to say, we were cooking it a few days later. Hubby just wouldn't stop talking about it (I promise, he was relentless) and I was also curious of the taste, so it was a win-win.

It was really delicious - and it reunited me with one of my favorite ingredients - shrimp! Yes, we are having shrimp again (cue music: O happy day!). Our self-imposed seafood ban has been lifted and I am now a happy camper! But enough about the shrimp - the sauce of this dish was the real star of the show. Try it! 


What you need:

1/4 of a large Vidalia onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup Vodka
1 cup chicken broth
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh basil for garnish
cooked capellini (angel hair pasta) 


What to do:

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pot. Saute garlic and onion for about a minute, then very slowly pour in the vodka and simmer over low heat. When vodka is reduced to half the amount (about 2 to 3 minutes), add chicken broth and cook for about a minute. 

Add in crushed tomatoes, whipped cream, then season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until heated through.

The heavy cream gives the sauce its orange-y hue

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Saute shrimps in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until they turn pink. Set aside.

Place cooked noodles into plate. Top with vodka sauce. Garnish with shrimps and freshly torn basil. 


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. Try using scallops or Italian sausage instead f shrimp.
2. There are so many ways of cooking this, some even add vodka after tomatoes and such. I prefer to cook it this way so as to cook off most of the alcohol content in the vodka.
3. This would also be good with penne or other thicker type pasta.
4. If you let the sauce simmer longer, it would be more flavorful!