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Home » Main Dish » Pasta » Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce

Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce

By Valerie · January 4, 2012 · Updated May 5, 2020 9 Comments

H Holidays MD Main Dish
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This Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce cooks up quickly for a satisfying, utterly delicious 30 minute meal!

A bowl of Oricchette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce, garnished with Parmesan cheese.

So, the holidays are officially over. All the Christmas decorations have been packed away. Paul and the boys lugged our beautiful, 12 foot tree out to the curb, and our house is back to normal. Why does it look so incredibly boring without Christmas lights in every room? Boy #4 woke up in the wee morning hours, painfully dragged himself out of bed, and headed back to school and we are back to work.

We had our last burst of throwing caution to the wind with our diets on New Year’s Eve. but now we’ve got to bring back the discipline, right? Yes, we need to watch the fat and the calorie intake, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and we definitely need to watch the alcohol intake. Yes, indeed we do! But wait, there are still some things left in my fridge that really shouldn’t go to waste. We’ll get started on that New Year’s resolution tomorrow.

A bag of Orecchiette pastsa.

I’m very fond of orecchiette pasta, also known as “little ear” pasta, because the shape resembles small ears. These little domes work perfectly with a vodka sauce and the addition of shrimp rounds it out into a filling, and utterly delicious meal. Don’t be concerned about alcohol content as almost all of the alcohol cooks off but leaves it’s flavor essence behind and you end up with a really special tomato cream sauce.

All the ingredients required for Orecchiette with shrimp in a vodka sauce, arranged on a counter top.

Here’s what you’ll need: 1 pound of large raw shrimp, an onion, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, vodka (the good stuff), a can of crushed tomatoes, fresh parsley, heavy cream, salt and pepper, shaved Parmesan cheese, and the orecchiette pasta. Grab the olive oil too.

A colander filled with shrimp.

Give your shrimp a good rinse with cold water. Pull the tails off if needed..

Shrimp cooking in a pan with olive oil.

Coat a large pan with olive oil. Cut the shrimp in half and cook over medium heat, just till opaque.

The cooked shrimp have changed to a light pink color.

They should look something like this.

A dish full of cooked shrimp.

Transfer the shrimp to a dish and set aside.

A pan with olive oil and diced onion, crushed red pepper and garlic.

Coat the same pan with some more olive oil and add your diced onion. After the onion has softened add in your garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for another minute or two.

Vodka added into the pans mixture.

Remove the pan from the heat and add in the vodka. Return the pan to the heat and add the crushed tomatoes. Turn it up to high and bring the mixture to a boil.

Cream is added into the pans mixture.

Reduce heat to low and add the cream.

Parsley is added into the pans mixture.

In goes the parsley.

Salt and pepper added into the pans mixture.

I only add a touch of salt but we lika the peppa! Let the sauce simmer over low heat while you prepare the pasta.

A spoonful of orecchiette pasta being spooned out from a boiling pot.

See how cute this pasta is? They actually look more like tiny little hats for cute little mice to me.

Cooked Orecchiette pasta.

Tiny little mouse hat pasta.

Cooked shrimp is added to the sauce.

When the pasta is ready, go back to the sauce and add in the shrimp.

The sauce is added to the pot of cooked pasta.

Add the sauce right into the pot with the drained pasta

A close up view of the Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce.

Now we are getting somewhere.

Transfer the pasta to a serving dish, top with shaved Parmesan and dive in!

A bowl of orichette with shrimp.

Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce

This Orecchiette with Shrimp in a Vodka Sauce cooks up quickly for a satisfying, utterly delicious 30 minute meal!
4 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 560kcal
Author: Valerie Brunmeier

Ingredients

  • 1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
  • olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • 1/2 cup good quality vodka
  • 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
  • 1 pound orecchiette pasta

Instructions

  • Rinse shrimp with cold water and drain. Pull tails off and cut them in half. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil  and place over medium heat. Cook and stir shrimp for a couple of minutes, just till opaque. Remove from heat and transfer shrimp to a dish and set aside. Coat pan with more olive oil. Add onion and cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for an additional minute.
  • Remove pan from heat and pour in the vodka. Return pan to heat and add crushed tomatoes, turn heat to high, and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in the parsley, cream, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer while preparing pasta.
  • Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain water from pasta. Add vodka sauce to drained pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 560kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 225mg | Sodium: 906mg | Potassium: 691mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 883IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 287mg | Iron: 5mg
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Categories: Holidays, Main Dish, Pasta, Recipe, Seafood, Valentine's Day

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Reader Interactions

Latest Comments
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  1. Marjorie says

    May 30, 2014 at 5:48 am

    Made this last night!! it was fabulous!!! I just returned from Italy and brought some parmesan home and needed a recipe! Had all the ingredients in the house!! Made dinner for 2 friends. Asparagus and salad, nice bread and wine! Rivaled any meal in Italy!! You rock!!

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      May 30, 2014 at 8:45 am

      How fabulous that you were able to bring back Parmesan from Italy. I love the sauce for this pasta and I’m so glad to hear that you loved it too! Huge compliments…thank you!

      Reply
  2. Kiri W. says

    January 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    My my my, what an amazing looking vodka sauce! I’d love to try this, since I love pasta and shrimp in almost any version 🙂 Looks really wonderful!

    Reply
  3. Beth Michelle says

    January 4, 2012 at 11:15 am

    I love vodka sauce. It must be so wonderful with shrimp in it!! Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      January 4, 2012 at 12:13 pm

      Thanks Beth. Happy New Year to you too!

      Reply
  4. Greg says

    January 4, 2012 at 10:59 am

    We likea the pepper too. This looks great and it’s a recipe my wife has wanted me to make.

    Reply
  5. Jen at The Three Little Piglets says

    January 4, 2012 at 10:43 am

    Except for the shrimp (which I’m allergic to) that looks amazing! You’ve got the whole rest of the year to worry about resolutions!

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      January 4, 2012 at 12:10 pm

      You could easily omit the shrimp – the sauce is delicious on it’s own. Happy New Year Jen!

      Reply
  6. The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time says

    January 4, 2012 at 10:41 am

    Wow, oh wow. That does look amazing. I admit to having vodka in my house, yes. But cooking with it is my favorite way of consuming it. Hard liquor and I don’t get along. 🙂 This little mouse hat pasta dish is fantastic. Thanks for passing it along!

    Reply

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