Creamy Garlic Shrimp Pasta – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Not solely is that this creamy garlic shrimp pasta extremely scrumptious with all that garlic butter parmesan taste, however it’s also so fast and simple to make!

Easy and quick sufficient for a weeknight dinner, this creamy shrimp pasta can also be restaurant-level good.

Check out the recipe to see a hack for lightening up a usually wealthy and heavy cream-laden dish!

What Type of Shrimp to Use

The reality is, most of us are going to be coping with frozen shrimp – not recent caught. Even the shrimp at most meat counters within the grocery retailer is shrimp that has been frozen and thawed.

I like to make use of massive shrimp for this recipe. The package deal is labeled 21 to 30 shrimp per pound (or thereabouts). However actually any measurement of shrimp can be utilized.

Toss the shrimp with smoked paprika, salt and pepper.

Smoked paprika is the KEY to layers of scrumptious taste on this recipe. In case you don’t have smoked paprika, you should utilize common paprika, but it surely’s price getting your fingers on some smoked paprika, I promise.

Prepare dinner the shrimp in a skillet in a single layer till superbly pink and cooked by.

It received’t take lengthy! Shrimp cooks in a short time, and also you don’t need it to overcook.

You’ll doubtless wish to do that in two batches so the pan isn’t too crowded.

Making the Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce

Step one within the creamy sauce is scorching butter and garlic collectively till aromatic. YUM.

Subsequent, you’re going to comply with your coronary heart and resolve the way you wish to creamify the sauce.

Listed below are your choices:

1. Use heavy cream*. It’s thick and opulent and wealthy and by no means grainy.
2. Use milk + a bit of little bit of cornstarch. It’s gentle (each in texture and energy) and creamy and easy and clean.

I’ve made this recipe with each choices, and actually, every variation is de facto, actually scrumptious. The heavy cream model makes a barely silkier sauce, however the milk + cornstarch model is great, too, and is normally the way in which I make it.

*Relying on what model of heavy cream you could have available, you may nonetheless whisk the heavy cream with cornstarch for a thicker sauce. I discover that totally different manufacturers of heavy cream fluctuate fairly a bit in thickness. Heavy cream labeled 38 to 40% cream might be very thick (that’s typically the sort I purchase from Costco).

Simmer and Toss

Prepare dinner the sauce at a low simmer for only a few minutes till barely thickened. Then add the Parmesan cheese and whisk till the cheese is melted.

Freshly grated Parmesan is finest right here – it’s going to soften much better than pre-shredded Parmesan cheese.

Vital Be aware In regards to the Pasta

Useful Timing Tip: begin the water boiling for the pasta on the very starting after which get engaged on the shrimp and sauce. Take a fast break so as to add the pasta. Whereas the pasta cooks, you may end up the opposite parts.

An important factor to recollect about this recipe is that it’s worthwhile to ladle out and reserve a cup or so of the pasta water earlier than draining the pasta!

Each time I’ve made this recipe, I’ve ended up utilizing portion of the reserved pasta water to assist loosen up the sauce. The starchy pasta water amplifies the creaminess of the sauce and helps the pasta not turn out to be stodgy and sticky.

This pasta advantages vastly from being served instantly. As a result of this dish is gentle on sauce anyway, the longer it sits, the much less creamy it turns into.

You may positively enhance the sauce elements for a saucier pasta, however I discover the sauce quantity within the recipe is an ideal praise to the pasta and shrimp with out being overwhelming.

Curiously, for a light-on-sauce-pasta, I feel the leftovers are FABULOUS, which isn’t all the time the case with leftover pasta.

Heated up barely (or sure, even eaten chilly), the leftovers are extra harking back to pasta salad than a decadent pasta dish – and it simply actually works for me. As in: Hello, I’m Mel, the leftover hoarder, it’s actual good to satisfy you.

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Creamy Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Yield: 6 -7 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Prepare dinner Time: 25 minutes

Whole Time: 40 minutes

Pasta + Shrimp:

• 1 to 2 kilos peeled, deveined shrimp (take away tails, if wanted) – see observe
• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika (or common paprika)
• Salt and pepper
• 12 ounces linguine or spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 ½ cups milk (not skim) or heavy cream (see observe!)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
• Chopped, recent parsley, for garnish
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

• Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp along with the smoked paprika and a small pinch or so of salt and pepper.

• Convey a big pot of calmly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook dinner till al dente, based on package deal instructions. BEFORE DRAINING, ladle out 1-2 cups of the pasta water and put aside for later. Drain the pasta.

• Whereas the pasta is cooking, warmth the 1 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 12-inch skillet (or a deep skillet) over medium warmth till sizzling and rippling. Add half of the shrimp in a single layer and cook dinner for 30-45 seconds; flip the shrimp and cook dinner simply till the shrimp have turned pink and are cooked by (it will not take lengthy!).

• Utilizing tongs, take away the shrimp to a plate retaining as a lot butter/liquid within the pan as attainable. Repeat with remaining shrimp – eradicating to the plate with the opposite shrimp when executed cooking.

• Return the pan to medium warmth and soften the two tablespoons butter. Add the garlic and cook dinner, stirring typically (do not let it burn!), till aromatic, about 30-45 seconds.

• If utilizing milk, whisk it along with the cornstarch (see observe under). Pour the milk combination (or heavy cream, if utilizing) into the pan and whisk to mix, letting the sauce bubble and thicken barely, 1-2 minutes.

• Add the salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Stir over medium warmth till the cheese is melted.

• Add the cooked noodles, lifting and tossing with tongs to coat the pasta completely with the sauce. Add spoonfuls of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce and pasta (simply eyeball it – in all probability will not want so as to add all of the reserved water).

• Add the shrimp and toss to mix with the pasta. Season to style with extra salt and pepper, if wanted! Sprinkle with recent parsley.

• Serve instantly (for optimum creaminess)! Serve with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Shrimp: any measurement shrimp can be utilized; I desire utilizing bigger shrimp – package deal is labeled “21 to 30 shrimp per pound” – or thereabouts. If utilizing frozen shrimp, thaw earlier than utilizing. I desire utilizing 2 kilos of shrimp for this recipe so there’s a good quantity of shrimp per serving, however you may reduce to utilizing 1 pound. 
Cornstarch: I solely use the cornstarch if I’m utilizing milk within the recipe. If utilizing heavy cream, the cornstarch isn’t obligatory until you desire a thicker sauce. 
Sauce: the sauce elements can simply be elevated if you need a saucier pasta. 
Parmesan Cheese: preshredded Parmesan cheese received’t soften as effectively within the sauce and should lend a gritty/lumpy texture to the sauce. 
Diet Details: the vitamin info for this recipe are calculated utilizing lowfat milk (not heavy cream). Additionally please keep in mind the vitamin info are offered as a courtesy and are simply an estimate, not a assure.

Serving: 1 serving, Energy: 371kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 22g, Fats: 13g, Saturated Fats: 6g, Ldl cholesterol: 107mg, Sodium: 659mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g

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Recipe Supply: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe