Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
This garlic butter shrimp pasta comes together in 20 min! Perfect for busy weeknights but fancy enough for company. So elegant and so easy!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine, linguine, or spaghetti
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups baby arugula or spinach
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Working in batches, add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Stir in pasta, arugula and Parmesan until arugula begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in shrimp.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Fresh pasta goes a long way. Use homemade pasta whenever possible as it is much smoother and silkier (and cooks much faster than store-bought!).
- Use high-quality shrimp. Medium or large wild-caught shrimp are much more meatier and juicier than farm-raised shrimp.
- Buy frozen shrimp. For superior quality and freshness, use frozen shrimp but avoid the bags with freezer burn. Opt for a quick thaw under cold running water for about 5-10 minutes, drying thoroughly.
- Know your shrimp size. Shrimp size is calculated on number of shrimp per pound. The smaller the number, the larger your shrimp. There are about 40-50 medium shrimp per pound.
- Long strand-like pasta is ideal. Fettuccine is a great pasta to use because it holds up sauce very well. Linguine, spaghetti or angel hair pasta are also good options.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Arugula, spinach, kale, collard greens or swiss chard are all great additions.