Shrimp Pasta

Name: Shrimp Pasta with Parmesan and Parsley in 30 Minutes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Short pasta (penne, fusilli) 200 g; Water for boiling pasta 2 l; Salt for boiling pasta 14 g (7 g per 1 l of water); Shrimp meat 100 g; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Parmesan (grated) 2 tbsp (14 g); Parsley, lemon, sun-dried tomato for garnish; Black pepper to taste

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30 mins

Delicious shrimp pasta with a bare minimum of other ingredients is an exceptionally simple and tasty dish: all you do is boil the pasta and quickly fry the shrimp meat in olive oil. Once everything is tossed together, the pasta can go straight to the table.

Pasta is a very versatile food and certainly one of the most common in Italy. There are plenty of sauces for pasta, with classic tomato sauce and meat sauces (Bolognese, amatriciana and others) taking the main place, but what really stands out is not the sauces so much as the tasty add-ins. With add-ins that you can combine and play with as you like, pasta can resemble a warm salad.

Shrimp that are sold already cooked are a convenient product to work with, and they also make a great beer snack, which many people appreciate. Shrimp with aioli make a great appetizer that many people enjoy. It is worth saying that shrimp are a “delicate” product and should be cooked as little as possible, otherwise you risk ending up with something rubbery. Shrimp go into many dishes: shrimp pizza, combined with Italian rice they make an amazingly tasty shrimp risotto, and you can cook delicious fish soups with shrimp.

In stores, shrimp are most often sold already cooked. They are boiled right where they are caught, in sea water, and frozen instantly. That is why a gray shrimp reaches us already “red”. To eat such shrimp, it is enough to pour boiling water over them and they thaw. All that is left is to prepare a shrimp sauce. I admit I do not like packaged shrimp in the shell; I prefer to buy loose dry-frozen shrimp, because then you can get a good look at them. Or, which is convenient for cooking, I buy so-called “shrimp meat”, the tails peeled of their shells.

When you make shrimp pasta, or any other seafood dish, such as seafood pasta, it is important not to overdo the heat. By and large, shrimp are ready to eat and need no extra cooking. So most often it is enough to simply thaw them in hot water or in warmed oil.

A dish with shrimp, made simply and without fuss, is a good option for a tasty breakfast. Everyone knows how hard it is to put together a full breakfast in the morning. I have always wondered how the English manage to make ham and eggs, and the Scots their beloved porridge. Still, pasta with shrimp, or with any other simple sauce and add-ins, takes no longer than waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. Half an hour and a lovely, good breakfast is ready. Bon appétit!

Ingredients

2 servings

Short pasta (penne, fusilli) 200 g
Water for boiling pasta 2 l
Salt for boiling pasta 14 g (7 g per 1 l of water)
Shrimp meat 100 g
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
Parmesan (grated) 2 tbsp (14 g)
Parsley, lemon, sun-dried tomato for garnish
Black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Pasta

For this dish it is better to choose a short pasta, such as penne or fusilli. These are the most common shapes and go well with fairly loose sauces or add-ins that are cut to about the same size as the pasta.

Boil the pasta while you prepare the shrimp and the other add-ins. Pour 2 l of cold water into a pot, add 14 g of salt (7 g per 1 l of water) and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add the pasta and cook until done. Good Italian pasta has the cooking time on the package, the time in which the producer guarantees an al dente texture. Drain in a colander. The boiled pasta is ready to be mixed with a sauce or add-ins.

Shrimp

If you are using raw fresh shrimp, they need to be boiled until done and peeled. You also need to carefully remove the black “vein”, the remains of the intestine, otherwise the dish will not look very appealing. Pre-cooked shrimp only need to be peeled carefully before cooking.

Fry the shrimp in olive oil. While the water comes to a boil, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet or small pot over medium heat and let it stand on the heat for 2-3 mins. The specific smell typical of natural olive oil should evaporate. The shrimp meat does not need to be thawed first.
Turn off the heat and immediately add 100 g of shrimp meat, stir, cover the skillet with a lid and leave it like that while the pasta cooks. In the hot oil the shrimp thaw quickly and fry very easily, and that is enough.

Cheese with parsley

Chop the Parmesan with the parsley. Grate the Parmesan, or a similar hard Italian cheese such as Grana Padano or Pecorino, on a grater. Pull all the leaves off the parsley sprigs and chop them coarsely with a knife. Put the Parmesan and herbs into a chopper and grind to small crumbs tinted a pleasant green by the parsley. There is no need to add salt, spices, garlic or olive oil.
If you really want to, you can make a separate basil pesto sauce, although it is much more work. But, as they say, your choice is your choice. Pasta with pesto, basil pasta and pasta with basil and tomatoes are a wonderful dish of their own, though a seasonal one.
Mix the pasta with the cheese. Put the boiled, ready pasta in a large bowl and add the Parmesan with parsley. Season the pasta generously with black pepper, preferably freshly ground. Mix the pasta and cheese thoroughly, trying not to leave any lumps of cheese.

Serving

Divide the pasta with Parmesan and parsley among plates. Top with the fried shrimp meat without stirring, and drizzle with the olive oil left over from frying.
Garnish the shrimp pasta with a sprig of parsley, a thinly sliced lemon wheel and, if you like, 1-2 pieces of sun-dried tomato, a wonderful addition to pasta or pizza. Sun-dried tomato goes into the recipe for imam bayildi, an eggplant stuffed with vegetables, which makes that dish truly delightful.
I strongly recommend squeezing a few drops of lemon juice over the finished shrimp pasta. Lemon juice only brings out the flavor of the shrimp. Shrimp pasta goes quite well with fresh tomato and, if you do not have to go to work, with garlic, but only a very little.
Serve at breakfast right away, while the pasta is hot. It is easy to toss it right before eating and enjoy the wonderful flavor. A good, hearty breakfast, and you will not feel hungry until lunch.

Calories and macros

565 kcal

Serving ≈ 300 g

Protein26 g19% of kcal
Fat17 g29% of kcal
Carbs72 g53% of kcal

100 g191 kcalProtein 8.7 gFat 5.9 gCarbs 24.3 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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