Description

On our honeymoon in Eleuthra, we ate at a restaurant owned by Italians where I was scolded for asking for cheese with my shrimp and squid. I was internally hand gesturing to them through my eyes – but I’m Sicilian – we love to combine cheese with seafood. Arguably, anytime you add a pesto to seafood you are marrying cheese and seafood with a delicious result. So why all the snobbery with combining seafood with cheese? I hope that this version of shrimp pasta helps you reconsider the antiquated rule of not topping seafood with cheese.

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Ingredients

Units Scale

Marinade

2 pounds shrimp (preferably head on shrimp)
3 Tbs garlic, chopped
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs sherry vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs honey
1 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Pasta

1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 cup chopped shallots (about 3-4 large shallots, but you could also substitute with chopped onion or leek)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
Shrimp and marinade
1/3 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
2 Tbs parsley
1/2 – 3/4 cup pasta water
1 pound fettucine, cooked in salted water until al dente
Salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

Marinade the shrimp: Mix all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge to marinate for an hour or overnight.
Make the pasta: Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots. Cover the pot and allow the shallots to cook for about 5 minutes covered, occasionally stirring the shallots to ensure they don’t burn. Add the tomatoes and reserved liquid from the marinade. Add the shrimp on the top and cover.
Over medium-low heat, cook for about 10 minutes. Uncover and remove the shrimp- once you notice the shells turning pink, they are safe to remove and set aside. Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes. While the sauce reduces, peel and devein the shrimp. Add the cooked pasta and mix to combine. After the pasta soaks up some of the sauce, add the pasta water.
To finish, add the cheese and parsley. Taste your finished shrimp pasta and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Category: Pasta
Cuisine: Italianish

Keywords: Seafood, Pasta