Chef's Choice Recipe: David Timney's Shrimp Pasta with Vodka Sauce

By Robin Wheeler Fri., Jan. 15 2010 at 2:30 PM

Categories: Chef's Choice, In the Kitchen

With a growing wholesale fresh pasta business, Mangia Italiano executive chef David Timney (profiled on Gut Check yesterday) hopes to see more home cooks using the restaurant's product. Dierbergs now carries Mangia's fresh pasta under the store's brand name, and Mangia's staff do in-store demos on Saturdays.

Robin Wheeler

"It would be nice to develop a core amount of people that go to Dierbergs and go to that pasta like they go to other items, to see fresh pasta in their carts," says Timney, who also hopes that buying a staple item that's produced locally will lead people to purchase more local goods.

Robin Wheeler

Shrimp Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup pancetta, small diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
10 jumbo shrimp, shells and tails removed
2 shots vodka
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
salt and pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1/4 cup heavy cream
Mangia Italiano's conchiglie rigata pasta, cooked
Italian parsley, minced

1. Heat olive oil in large pan. Saute pancetta over medium heat just long enough to render the fat. Add onion, sauté until transluscent. Add garlic and continue cooking for one minute.

2. Add shrimp, being careful to not crowd the pan. Carefully add the vodka; it will flame.

3. Add marinara, season with salt and pepper and then let simmer five minutes or until reduced by one-fourth.

4. Stir in Parmesan and cream, heating until it's just warmed, being careful to not boil the cream.

5. Toss cooked pasta with sauce to coat. Serve with a sprinkling of minced Italian parsley.

Robin Wheeler writes the blog Poppy Mom and is a regular contributor to Gut Check, including the columns The Dive Bomber and Throwback of the House.