Spicy tomato and shrimp pasta

Oh I’ve been so lazy those last two weeks. I’ve been lazy in the kitchen and lazy on the blog. The only part in my life where I haven’t been lazy is work. It’s crazy stressfull at the moment and whenever I got home from a challenging day at the agency, I went straight into couch-potato-mode. No nerve for fancy feasts and dinners. Quick meals where my go-to recipes for the last two weeks. And one of them I like to share with you today: A lovely spicy tomato and shrimp pasta dish.

I can’t believe this wasn’t on the blog already, because I’ve been making this recipe for years and it never gets boring for me. It’s just a few simple ingredients I always have in the pantry and in the freezer, thirty minutes of cooking and you have great pasta and in a creamy, spicy tomato sauce, topped with juicy shrimp. Yum!

Spicy tomato and shrimp pasta

Pasta in a spicy, creamy tomato sauce topped with juicy shrimp.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 300 g spaghetti
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups tomato passata
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 14 shrimp peeled
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

Instructions

• Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pan and cook the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes over medium to high heat, until they are translucent and slightly brown.
• Add the white wine and let it evaporate for a couple of seconds.
• Add the passata, the bay leaves, chili flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
• Turn down the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes, until it has thickened and halved in volume.
• Meanwhile cook the pasta according to package and save one cup of the cooking water.*
• When the pasta is almost done, turn up the sauce again and add the shrimp and the cream. Cook for a few minutes until the shrimp are just cooked through.**
• Add the drained pasta and mix until everything is coated. Add a few splashes of pasta water if the pasta seems to dry for your taste. Serve immidiately.

Notes

* Whenever I make a pasta dish with some kind of sauce I ALWAYS save a cup of the pasta cooking water. It's the magic stuff that makes sauces silky. It helps you to adjust the sauce to the desired thickness right before serving.
** Do not overcook your shrimp. They do not need long. Just a couple of minutes, until they have turned bright orange and they should be cooked through and still juicy and tender.