Drunken prawns

One of the restaurants in Tallinn I've discovered on the recommendations of a friend of mine The Wine Authority is Fish & Wine. One summery afternoon I retired there to enjoy some lunch (and sample the praised wine list). I had pasta with vodka and prawns, which today was put to test in the home kitchen. And oh, how Tallinn is calling me back...

It is such a treat to have friends like that - to have people to compare notes with and discover new destinations. Thanks to their recommendations Tallinn never ceases to surprise!

Pasta is a world onto its own, and for this dish bucatini would be the best choice.  Though I only seemed to have linguini... As this was made back home in Helsinki, I didn't have that home-made shellfish stock and I "had to" make do with lobster fond (which from now on is a pantry staple!) The end result was so yummy that even though I claim the recipe feeds 2, today it only fed one extremely greedy food blogger...

For 2

150 g pasta of your choice

400 g king prawns

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 chilli

(again, adjust based on your palate and the variety of chilli you're using - mine wasn't very hot)
1 tbsp tomato concentrate

1/2 dl vodka

2 tbsp lobster fond

2,5 dl cream
1 tbsp dill

salt, pepper

To serve: sour cream, roe, dill

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Fry the onion, finely chopped chilli and garlic in some butter. When they've softened a bit, add the tomato paste and vodka along with the lobster fond and cream. Cook for a bit longer and add dill. Add prawns and cook for a couple of more minutes until they're cooked through. Season and serve. Be careful with salt as there's some in the lobster fond and roe. Fold the pasta into the sauce and serve with a dollop of sour cream and roe.