Spicy Shrimp with Vodka Sauce

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I have been making so many quick and easy dishes lately so I decided to take a day and put this recipe together totally from scratch.  Since I found some great tomatoes at the farmers market I decided to make a beautiful pasta sauce.  So I roasted my tomatoes off in the oven with a bit of olive oil, salt and basil.

Then I decided that I wasn’t going to buy a boxed pasta to use my sauce on.  So I made fresh linguine.  Then I had to decide on a protein for my dish.  I’ve been doing a lot of chicken lately so I was off to the seafood market to find something other than chicken.  I found some fresh shrimp that was just brought in fresh off the boat.  They weren’t as big as I usually like but I chose them hoping they would be nice an sweet.  I was not disappointed.

Now y’all don’t have to put all the extra time into this dish if you’re in a hurry.  You could most certainly use a canned roasted tomato and boxed linguine.  I think you’d find this a very tasty alternative that would cut much of the time out of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 – 1 1/2 pounds fresh linguine  (boxed is ok)
• 6 plum tomatoes (oven roasted)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound fresh shrimp (frozen if you don’t have access to fresh)
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 sweet onion – diced
• 1  6 ounce can tomato paste
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup vodka (optional)
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Place a large stock pot 3/4 full of water (salted very well) over high heat and bring to boil.

In large sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil.  While heating, toss the shrimp in the Cajun seasoning and then put in sauté pan and brown evenly on both sides.  Be careful not to over cook your shrimp.  It will still cook a bit in the sauce at the end.  Once browned, remove shrimp to a bowl and cover.

About now you can add the pasta to the boiling water. Remember if you’re using fresh pasta it will only take 3-5 minutes to cook. If using boxed, follow directions on package.

Add the onion to the sauté pan and cook over medium heat till translucent.  Add the garlic and tomato paste and continue to cook for 3-4 additional minutes. 

Add the sour cream, vodka and a bit of the pasta water to the sauté pan along with the basil and oregano.  You will add the pasta water to bring the sauce to the consistency you like.  Add slowly, you can always add more, but can’t take out any.  Cook about 5 minutes to cook out alcohol.

Once pasta is cooked add it to the sauce along with the shrimp and toss to coat well. 

Serve with a bit of Parmigianino Reggiano cheese grated over top.