Let’s clear a couple of things up. One: creamy pasta doesn’t have to be heavy or overly filling to be satisfying. Two: it doesn’t have to be summer for you to enjoy seafood like shrimp. Proving both of those facts today: our Shrimp, Tomato and Spinach Pasta!
This light and simple pasta dish is sure to make your entire family happy with its perfectly balanced palate of spice, shrimp, and fettuccine pasta. Making you happy? How easy it is to adjust to your family’s preferences! Let us show you how it’s done, then read on for the full recipe and more tips for making this delicious dish.
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SHRIMP, TOMATO & SPINACH PASTA
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 3 to 5 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes (or more to taste/spice preference)
- 1 pound of shrimp, uncooked, shelled and deveined
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 5 medium tomatoes, fresh, chopped into large cubes
- 1 ½ cups spinach
- 10 ounces fettuccine pasta
- Juice of ½ lemon, or more to taste, divided
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the minced garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, the paprika, and the chili flakes.
- Add the shrimp to the olive oil mixture and stir to combine.
- Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for a few minutes, or until the shrimp is mostly cooked but still translucent in the center. Remove from the heat.
- To the skillet with shrimp, add the chopped fresh tomatoes and spinach. Mix everything well, and set aside while you cook the pasta.
- Cook the pasta according to your own preferences and/or the package instructions.
- Drain the pasta, saving and setting aside about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the cooked pasta with the remaining olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
- Add the pasta and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan with shrimp and vegetables. Mix to combine.
- Add half of the lemon juice and a couple tablespoons of the saved pasta cooking water. Warm on medium heat until the shrimp is cooked through, and all the ingredients are heated through.
- Taste and adjust with seasoning with salt, lemon juice, and more chili flakes, if desired. You can adjust the consistency of the sauce with more of the pasta cooking water, if desired.
- Top with grated Parmesan cheese to serve, if desired.
CHEF’S TIPS
- This recipe is easy to adjust to your own flavor and spice preferences! Use more or less garlic cloves as you desire, and/or increase the amount of chili flakes according to how much you like spicy food.
- You can mix the shrimp and the olive oil mixture the night before to allow the shrimp to marinate, or you can do it right before cooking. Your choice!
- Don’t have a large enough pan to cook all of the shrimp at once? Cook it in batches!
- Both frozen and/or cooked spinach should work for this recipe. Use whichever you prefer or are more comfortable using.
Deliciously simple! What do you think of this seafood pasta? What other spices or vegetables would you like to try in it? How spicy do you prefer your shrimp dishes? Tell us if you give this one a try and, of course, let us know how it turns out for you!
Recipe adapted from Julia’s Album