Creamy Shrimp Pasta
For a unique twist on an Italian classic this Cacio e Pepe with Shrimp and lime delivers beautiful flavors with minimal fuss. Perfect for seafood lovers, the preparation for this creamy shrimp pasta dish is surprisingly straightforward: create a traditional Cacio e Pepe and top it with shrimp tartare. While this breaks all my usual rules, the sweetness of fresh shrimp pairs beautifully with citrus zest and the heat from aromatic toasted pepper. Try it and you'll be serving up a restaurant quality meal for your weeknight dinner.
Servings 2
Equipment
- Large-sized pot
- Large-sized pan
- Plastic bag/ zip loc
- Burger press or meat mallet (optional)
- Ladle
- knife
- Chopping-board
- Small bowl
- Zester
- Spoon
- Tongs
Ingredients
- Salt
- 200 g /7oz Spaghettoni Quadrati
- 20 g /0.7oz black peppercorns
- 100 g /3.5oz fresh raw shrimps peeled and deveined
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil EVOO
- 1 Lime
- 1/2 orange
- 90 g / 3.17oz Pecorino Romano grated
- NOTE: This recipe serves 2, assuming 100g of pasta per person and 2-3 shrimp. Use this as a guide depending on how many people you are cooking for. While there is unlikely to be leftovers you want to make sure there is enough for everyone!
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then and add 1 tablespoon of salt and stir. Allow it to dissolve before adding the pasta.
- Check the recommended cooking instructions on the pasta packet and cook the pasta 2 -3 minutes less.
- While the pasta is cooking, place a large pan over medium heat and black peppercorns. Toast the pepper gently until its aroma is released, then remove the pan from heat.
- Transfer these into a ziplock bag and use a heavy object, like a burger press, to crush the pepper into a coarse texture (crush further if you prefer the pepper more finely ground).
- Finely chop the peeled and deveined shrimp and place them in a small bowl.
- Pour a few servings of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) over the shrimp and zest both lime and orange directly over the bowl. Mix the shrimp mixture slowly to combine.
- Put the pan back on medium-high heat, add the ground pepper along with 1 ladle of pasta water.
- Once the pasta is ready use tongs to transfer it from the pot directly into the pan with the pepper, allow it to simmer.
- Turn the heat to high and mix the pasta using tongs until well-coated. Make sure there is a small amount of pasta water left in the pan.
- Turn off the heat and wait for 10 seconds. Then, add the grated Pecorino cheese and continue mixing to incorporate it into the pasta, being quick and ensuring there are no clumps. Remove the pan from heat completely to avoid ruining the texture.
- Add 1 more ladle of reserved pasta water and toss the pasta until everything is combined and creamy.
- When serving up each dish, add a generous tablespoon of shrimp tartare on top then drizzle with EVOO for the final touch. Aim for 2-3 shrimp per person depending on your portion sizes so they can mix it through and taste the shrimp with every bite.