Chef 101 (Eve) Makes: Shrimp Pasta Vodka

I’m always trying to find a way to sneak spirits or wine into my recipes…or use one from the Cooking Light tab at www.myrecipes.com.  This one called for a whopping 1/3 cup of vodka…and not much else.  If a five minute prep and a ten minute cook time sounds good to you try this one, my edits are in italics. ( *Wine paring below):

Ingredients:

• 9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine (I cooked my own from a box.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I bought 10 oz – more than enough)
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (Yes, you know me, I used almost 5)
• 1/3 cup vodka
• 1 1/3 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (Good luck finding low sodium, we chose healthy-recipe)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. 1. Cook pasta per directions. Drain. (I cooked it first, like they wanted, but started shrimp the last 5 minutes of cooking time – didn’t want gluey pasta!)
2. 2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; sauté for 4 minutes or until done. Remove shrimp from pan.
3. 3. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Carefully add vodka; cook 1 minute. Add marinara, 1/4 cup basil, cream, salt, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Stir in pasta and shrimp. Sprinkle with remaining basil. (The photo is before I stirred all of this together, pretty, huh?)

*We also had spent a few minutes doing a little cellar work before dinner…in went our recent purchases from Terra Valentine, Phifer Pavitt, Robert Mondavi, Beringer and Robert Sinskey.  Out came several older Cabernets, including this ’04 Brander.  I wish I could have sat down to evaluate the color, aroma and taste.  I was cooking when Eddie opened it.  Suffice it to say the red vodka sauce stood up nicely to the wine.  And, though the family voted to have this dish again, I’d have to say I liked the wine way better.