Penne alla vodka with shrimp (best creamy sauce)

💙 Why you'll love it

• Scrumptious sauce - trust me, pasta alla vodka are really worth their hype! And with shrimp in it, you'll reach heaven...
• Simple ingredients - this recipe calls for super easy ingredients, to find and to use! 
• Comforting - in our family, pasta is the ultimate quick, easy and comforting meal! With a perfectly balanced tomato vodka sauce and succulent shrimp, this recipe is no exception to the rule and it'll be your new favorite dinner very soon!
• One pan and one pot - best part is, after treating your whole family, you won't spend the evening doing the dishes.

🧀 Ingredients

You'll need the following ingredients to make this amazing shrimp penne alla vodka recipe. You can find the quantities in the recipe card below.

• Olive oil - extra virgin olive oil is the best one and it flavors the dish perfectly.
• Shrimps - to save some time, you can use raw peeled and deveined shrimp. Be sure to use good quality fresh shrimp.
• Onion - I like to use yellow onion, but frankly, any kind of onion would work.
• Garlic - if you want to choose your garlic carefully so you do not encourage the slavery of Chinese prisoners, read my Eco Tips on the subject.
• Tomato paste - buy high quality tomato paste, as it's one of the main ingredient in the sauce!
• Red pepper flakes to spice it up! You can replace it with Cayenne pepper if you prefer.
• Vodka - there's a good reason why we put vodka in the sauce and it's because it really makes all the difference (and yet, it has no taste AT ALL). Let me explain: vodka intensifies the aroma of the tomato in this sauce and prevents the cream in the sauce from splitting, since it's an emulsifier. It's a bit technical, but believe me, it's worth using and don't worry, it'll evaporates while cooking.
• Pasta - I use Penne pasta but you can use any pasta you like, such as Fettuccine, Linguine, shells, Rigatoni, etc...
• Heavy cream to make the best rich, velvety creamy sauce!
• Parmesan cheese - Italians, like my grandmother, always say NEVER mix anything from the sea with cheese. But I can't resist adding a little Parmesan to a good pasta dish, even when there are shrimp involved... Sorry grandma!
• Garnish - lemon zest and fresh basil (replaceable with parsley).

🍗 Variations

Feel free to change this recipe to go with your tastes. I suggest several options:

• Vodka - it can be replaced with dry white wine and if you want this dish to be alcohol-free, replace it with chicken or vegetable broth, or with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. 
• Heavy cream - don't substitute heavy cream with milk, as it way too liquid and your sauce won't thicken. You can replace it with half half though.
• Gluten-free - use gluten-free pasta. 
• Proteins - replace shrimp with cooked chicken or cooked Italian sausage, it'll be delicious! You can also add tofu, seitan or any vegan meat you like.

✨How to make the best pasta alla vodka?

Recipe details and quantities are in the recipe card below.

• Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the Penne pasta following the package directions (cook al dente).
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until pink. Set shrimp aside but leave olive oil in the skillet.

• Add onion and garlic (add one more tablespoon olive oil if it sticks), and sauté for a few minutes, until nicely colored. Stir regularly so it doesn't burn.
• Halfway through cooking of pasta, reserve ½ cup pasta water (I usually use ¼ cup of water plus a bit more, but it's always best to have too much than too little).
• Add tomato paste and let it cook for 2 more minutes, until it gets a little darker. Deglaze with vodka then add heavy cream, red chili flakes, salt and black pepper.

• Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring consistently until the sauce thickens (it happens very quickly). 
• Add ¼ cup reserved cooking water and stir well. If it appears too thick for you, add a bit more pasta water until you reach desired consistency.

• Then add cooked shrimp to the sauce.
• And butter.

• Add drained Penne pasta.
• Stir well until butter is completely melted, serve immediately in plates and sprinkle with lemon zests, fresh basil leaves and Parmesan cheese if you like (optional).

👩🏻‍🍳 Chef's tips

1. Cook pasta al dente, as they will continue to cook a bit in the creamy vodka sauce.
2. Let the tomato cream sauce simmer long enough for the aromas to develop and the vodka to evaporate.
3. Be careful not to forget the pasta cooking water (true story: it's so easy to forget...) to give the sauce its creamy texture.
4. If the sauce seems too thick to you, add a bit more pasta water until it reaches the consistency you like!

💡Frequently Asked Questions

❄️ Storage

Store - once completely cold, place pasta alla vodka with shrimp in an airtight container in the fridge. You can keep it for 3 to 4 days maximum.

Reheat - to reheat this dish, put it in a microwave for 1-2 minutes or in a pot on low heat, stirring often so it doesn't stick. Because of the fridge, the sauce may have lost a bit of its creaminess, so I recommend to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water and to mix very well before reheating it.