Shrimp Pasta alla Vodka

1 Put pasta water on to boil: Put a large pot of salted water (1 Tbsp salt for every 2 quarts of water) on to boil for the pasta.

2 Sauté onions, garlic, red pepper flakes: Melt butter in a large, thick-bottomed pot on medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned.

Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook a minute more.

3 Add tomatoes, vodka, cream, zest: Add the crushed tomatoes to the onions. Stir in the vodka, cream, and lemon zest. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to maintain a simmer.

4 Start cooking pasta: As soon as you start simmering the sauce, add pasta to boiling salted water. Pasta should be done in 10 minutes.

5 Add raw shrimp to sauce: After the sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, about halfway through the pasta cooking time, taste for salt and add salt to taste (you'll likely need about 1 teaspoon). Add the raw peeled and deveined shrimp to the sauce.

Cook until the shrimp is just cooked through, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

6 Add cooked pasta to sauce and shrimp: When the pasta is done, al dente, strain it and add it to the vodka tomato sauce and shrimp.

Sprinkle with parsley and freshly ground black pepper to serve.