I love shrimp linguine (or shrimp linguini as it is sometimes spelled) because it’s light and refreshing. An added bonus is that it’s so quick and easy to make.
I usually think of pasta recipes as heavy, but this recipe has asparagus, fresh tomatoes and delicate shrimp in an easy light garlic and oil “sauce”.
Oil and garlic pasta recipes are so easy to make and so flavorful. This shrimp linguini certainly falls into both of those categories.
From start to finish this linguine recipe is an easy 30 minute meal (or less).
You can start out with pre-cooked shrimp and just add them in at the end of the cooking process to heat them up with the other ingredients, or you can start with raw shrimp. If you are using raw shrimp, sauté them in the hot oil first, then remove them to a plate while you cook the other ingredients. Just add them in again at the end, when everything is ready to go and voilà , you have a plate of yummy fresh shrimp pasta.
Shrimp Linguine or Seafood Linguine?
Anyone who follows this site knows that I like to switch things up in recipes. I want to show you that cooking often isn’t an exact science. You can take a recipe and, to a large extent, make changes to suit your own tastes.
Even though I call this a shrimp linguine recipe, don’t let that hold you back. Do you have amazing sweet scallops on hand? They would be great in this recipe. Want a little of both? Then treat yourself to seafood linguine with both shrimp and scallops. Just cook the scallops in the hot oil as you would the shrimp. Be careful not to over cook them both.
The same goes for the vegetables. If you really don’t like asparagus, or don’t have access to fresh asparagus, you can easily substitute something like sliced zucchini for the asparagus.
Don’t have cherry or grape tomatoes? Use full size tomatoes, cut into bit sized pieces.
If you don’t stray too far off the path of the main recipe, it will usually work out and taste fine. As always adjust the seasoning to your taste.
What is important when you are cooking a recipe like this that depends on nicely cooked fresh vegetables, is to not over cook them. Sauté the asparagus pieces for a few minutes, probably no more than 5 minutes, so you end up with tender asparagus that is not mushy from over cooking.
The same thing goes with the cherry or grape tomatoes. You really just want to heat them up, not make a cooked tomato sauce.
You can omit the lemon juice, but I think that a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, just a bit, right at the end of the cooking time adds a bright note that takes this recipe from really good to amazing.
A Tip for Easy Pasta Recipes
One of the most important tips I have for cooking any pasta recipe is to always remember to salt the water that you will boil the pasta in. It really does make a difference so I suggest you don’t overlook this step. Pasta that is cooked in well salted water does taste better than pasta cooked without salt. You may think that you can just add some salt later, but it’s just not the same.
Don’t worry about too much salt in your diet from salted pasta water. You aren’t ingesting much of the salt at all. Most of it will go down the drain with the discarded water. Enough will remain in the cooked pasta to make it tasty.
You’ll notice that the recipe is for 2 servings. Use the button in the recipe area to get the amounts of each ingredient that you will need to make as many servings as you want. It’s a very easy recipe to expand to feed as many people as you want.
Shrimp Linguine
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound linguine
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, large, finely minced or 2 small cloves
- 2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
- 8 asparagus spears
- 12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil
- 6 ounces shrimp
- Juice of a wedge of lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the asparagus spears by washing them gently and breaking off the hard end. Cut the spears into bite size pieces and dry them.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Make sure it has at least 3 tablespoons of salt in it to make sure the linguine cooks properly and tastes good. Boil the linguine until it is tender but still firm. Drain it well before mixing it with the shrimp and vegetables (which you will cook while the pasta water is boiling).
- Meanwhile, in heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. If your shrimp are raw, cook the shrimp in the hot oil for just a few minutes until they are pink. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
- Add the garlic and shallots to the hot pan. Cook, stirring them in the oil, for about 30 seconds. Add the asparagus spears and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and basil and cook stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the shrimp back to the pan and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Drain the cooked pasta well. Spoon the vegetable mixture over the hot linguine or add the linguine to the pan of vegetables and mix it all together well.
Notes
Nutrition
I hope you enjoy this shrimp linguine recipe. If you do:
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