Shrimp Sauce & Pasta
Submitted by alabamatama
Garlic shrimp linguine with rosemary, oregano, and a touch of cayenne. Eight cloves of garlic, lemon-spiked olive oil, fresh spinach and tomato, finished with parmesan.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
15 minREADY
30 minThis shrimp pasta takes the classic Italian garlic-and-oil pairing and pushes everything into bigger flavor territory. A food processor purees olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, oregano, paprika, cayenne, and a serious eight cloves of garlic into a fragrant herb paste. That paste melts into butter with bay leaves to coat the shrimp as they cook, then everything tosses with hot linguine.
Fresh spinach chiffonade and diced tomato fold in at the end, wilting just enough to keep their color. Parmesan finishes it.
Chef Tips
- Pureeing the herbs and garlic into a paste first is the key step. Whole minced garlic browns; paste melts evenly into the butter without burning.
- Watch the shrimp like a hawk. Small shrimp cook in 1 to 2 minutes; another 30 seconds and they go rubbery.
- Pull the pan off heat the moment the shrimp turn pink, even if the centers look slightly underdone. They keep cooking in the residual heat.
- Cook the linguine one minute shy of al dente. It finishes in the sauce and shouldn’t go past tender.
- Add spinach and tomatoes off the heat or on very low heat. High heat collapses the spinach into mush and bursts the tomatoes.
Variations
- Swap shrimp for sea scallops or a mix of seafood for a more luxurious version.
- Use whole wheat or chickpea linguine for added fiber and protein without losing the dish’s character.
- Finish with a splash of dry white wine after removing the shrimp for a deeper, more aromatic sauce.
Ingredients
Directions
In a food processor bowl equipped with steel blade, purée to a paste the olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, oregano, paprika, salt, cayenne, and garlic.
Stop the motor a couple of times, and scrape down the sides of the work bowl with a spatula to make sure garlic is getting finely minced.
In a large sauté pan, melt butter.
Add olive oil mixture and bay leaves.
Sauté breifly over medium heat.
Do not burn garlic.
Add shrimp to the pan.
Roll shrimp around in pan so each shrimp is coated with the hot sauce and cooks quickly.
As soon as shrimp are barely cooked (be careful not to overcook - it may take only 1 to 2 minutes), remove pan from heat while you cook the pasta.
When pasta is cooked and well-drained, return sauté pan to low heat, add pasta, and toss with the shrimp sauce to coat.
Fold in spinach and tomatoes.
Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan.
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