📋Italian Shrimp Tomato Pasta Recipe (No Cream No Cheese)

Light and fresh, this shrimp tomato pasta is a perfect one-dish meal, full of sweetness from the shrimp and the cherry tomatoes. A healthy thick sauce with stir-fried cherry tomatoes and shallot finished with fresh basil, no need for cream. So easy to make, it is ready in only 20 minutes. Add some small scallops or lobster tails for a fancy dinner, and deglaze with a dry white wine.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword pasta with prawns, seafood pasta, Shrimp pasta

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 563kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

20 fresh shrimps peeled and deveined or prawns
10 small scallops optional
1 lb long pasta long fusilli or linguine
1 lb cherry tomatoes
1 shallot
10 fresh basil leaves
½ cup dry white wine optional
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon salt for pasta
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a frying pan, stir fry the shallot with 2 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 shallot
Once the shallot is translucent, add the cherry tomatoes cut in half and the chopped basil leaves. Stir and season it
1 lb cherry tomatoes, 10 fresh basil leaves
Let it simmer covered for 15 minutes, at low heat. Stirring occasionally.
In the meantime boil the salted water for the pasta
1 tablespoon salt for pasta
Cook the pasta al dente, I usually boil 1 minute less than what indicated on the pasta package
1 lb long pasta
Add the shrimp and the scallops and simmer for a few more minutes until they are cooked. Y
20 fresh shrimps peeled and deveined, 10 small scallops
Once the seafood is cooked, you can add some dry white wine. Add the pasta to the pan and stir
½ cup dry white wine
Adjust the seasoning and serve
salt & pepper

Video

Notes

To know if shrimps (or prawns) are fresh, touch their shells, and if they are slimy, I won't buy them.
I clean and devein the shrimps for this recipe, but do not throw away the head and the shells as they make a fantastic fish stock.
If you don't have fresh shrimp, you can use frozen ones, but they have to be raw, and make sure you choose good quality large prawns.
Defrost completely before using them; otherwise, they will be too watery.
I added some small scallops to the shrimp, and you can also use other seafood like calamari/squid or mussels.
Remember: seafood should not cook for too long. Always add at the end and remove from the stove as soon as the seafood is cooked.
For this recipe, I used fusilli lunghi. I like this pasta because it is nice and firm. You can use linguini or spaghettoni.
Usually, when I cook fish, I prefer to use shallots than onions as shallots have a more delicate flavor.
I also use cherry tomatoes as they are nice and sweet, but you can also use long fresh tomatoes like Roma or San Marzano.
To make a creamy sauce without adding anything, you must ensure the cherry tomatoes simmer covered at low temperatures.
If you want more juices, add some water from the pasta, as the starch released will act as a thickening agent.
You can add ½ cup of white wine at the end before adding the pasta for extra flavor. Let it evaporate for 1 minute.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce as soon as it is ready. Combine immediately.

Nutrition