This 30-minute weeknight pasta dinner combines juicy garlicky shrimp, asparagus, crispy bacon, and pine nuts with a lemon-butter parmesan sauce.
Not Your Common Shrimp Pasta
- No Heavy Cream: I skip the heavy cream right here and construct the sauce from butter, parmesan, lemon, and a splash of pasta water. I infuse the shrimp with contemporary garlic and a contact of crimson pepper flakes. This pasta dish is gentle, shiny, indulgent, and restaurant-quality—with out feeling heavy.
- Bacon Fats: As an alternative of olive oil, I cook dinner the asparagus and shrimp in bacon drippings. It provides depth and a savory smokiness, and I like to recommend utilizing the best high quality bacon you’ll find.
- Fast and Simple: Shrimp Asparagus Pasta appears and tastes fancy, but it surely’s accomplished in half-hour. Make this for date nights or weeknight household meals – you’ll all the time will get compliments.
The Elements & Substitutions
- Pasta: I take advantage of cavatappi as a result of it holds sauce properly, however penne, rigatoni, farfalle, or fusilli work too on this shrimp pasta.
- Bacon: Thick-cut provides the very best texture. You’ll be able to swap with pancetta, turkey bacon, and even crispy prosciutto.
- Shrimp: I used massive peeled and deveined uncooked shrimp with out tails. You might additionally use scallops, diced hen breast or thighs, or cubed pork loin as alternate options to shrimp.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use the highest-quality Parmigiano-Reggiano on this pasta dish! You might sub with Pecorino or Asiago that are sharper and saltier choices.
- Pine nuts: Almonds, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts make good stand-ins for the pine nuts.
- Asparagus all the time pairs properly with seafood! Select thick stalks and ensure to trim woody ends! Broccolini, inexperienced beans, snap peas, zucchini, and even darkish greens can substitute the asparagus.
- Purple pepper flakes and contemporary garlic: I take advantage of each to infuse this shrimp pasta with taste. You’ll be able to sub with cajun seasoning, chili powder, or paprika. You can even use garlic powder as an alternative of contemporary.
The entire checklist of components and the quantities are within the recipe card beneath.
Variations
- Extra veggies: Throw in some sliced cherry tomatoes, peas, spinach, or zucchini!
- Creamy: Add about ¼ cup of cream, creme fraiche, or mascarpone while you add the butter for a creamy model of this shrimp pasta.
- Spicy: Add as a lot chile flakes as your coronary heart wishes!
What to Serve with Shrimp Asparagus Pasta
I wish to hold the sides easy however complementary, so the shrimp pasta dish stays the star. A crisp inexperienced salad with arugula, lemon French dressing, and shaved parmesan is all the time a winner. Typically I swap it up with my apple spinach salad or strawberry spinach salad once I need one thing a bit of sweeter and extra seasonal. For absorbing all that shiny lemon-parmesan sauce, garlic bread is a should. On particular events, I’ll take it up a notch with my garlic butter dinner rolls and even my selfmade bread machine bread—these all the time wow visitors on the desk. And since this pasta dinner has such vivid flavors, my husband all the time loves it with a light-weight cocktail like cucumber gimlet or a glass of crisp white wine—Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio pair fantastically and provides the entire meal that restaurant-quality really feel with out being fussy.
Shrimp Asparagus Pasta
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This Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta is a 30-minute weeknight dinner that mixes juicy garlic-infused shrimp, tender asparagus, and crispy bacon with a lemon-butter parmesan sauce. It’s gentle, contemporary, comforting, however cozy sufficient to get pleasure from all 12 months spherical.
Servings 4
Energy 527kcal
Elements
- 8 oz quick pasta (I used cavatappi pasta)
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon reduce into chunks
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- ½ pound asparagus trimmed and reduce into 1-2 inch items
- ½ pound shrimp peeled and deveined with or with out tails
- Salt and pepper to style
- 5 cloves garlic finely minced
- pinch crimson pepper flakes optionally available
- 1 massive lemon zest and juice
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese plus extra for serving
Garnish
- Toasted pine nuts
- Chopped contemporary parsley
- Lemon wedges
Directions
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Carry a big pot of salted water to a boil. Cook dinner the cavatappi (or pasta of alternative) till al dente, following the package deal’s directions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water, then drain and put aside.
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In a big skillet over medium-low warmth, cook dinner chopped bacon till crispy. Take away with a slotted spoon and put aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Go away the bacon drippings within the pan.
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Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the bacon fats within the skillet. As soon as melted, add the asparagus and cook dinner for 3 to 4 minutes till vivid inexperienced and simply tender. Take away from the pan and put aside.
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Season the shrimp flippantly with salt and pepper. Flip the warmth to excessive, then add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook dinner for 1–2 minutes per facet, till simply pink and barely browned. Add the garlic and chili flakes (if utilizing) while you flip the shrimp, cooking till aromatic—about 1 minute extra.
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Return the asparagus and cooked pasta to the skillet with the shrimp. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and half of the reserved pasta water. Ensure to stir and thicken the pasta water a bit.
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Scale back warmth to low, then stir within the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and parmesan. Toss till every part is properly mixed and flippantly coated. Add extra pasta water as wanted.
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Stir within the crispy bacon or use as a garnish. Style and regulate seasoning with salt, pepper, or extra lemon juice. Serve topped with toasted pine nuts, further parmesan, and chopped parsley.
Notes
- Don’t over cook dinner your pasta! Cook dinner it till al dente as you’ll end cooking it while you mix the entire components.
- Bacon can burn simply, so be affected person when cooking on a medium-low setting. It additionally helps render the fats higher so you might have sufficient taste to impart into your pasta dish.
- It’s essential to chop the asparagus to 1-2 inches so it could possibly simply be integrated into the shrimp pasta. In the event you left them entire, it could make mixing and coating the sauce extraordinarily troublesome.
- Including the garlic too early will burn it. Including it proper earlier than the shrimp is completed cooking will yield the very best outcomes.
- Lemon and parm assist add steadiness to this pasta dish, because the bacon, shrimp, and asparagus are all richer flavors. In the event you really feel it is advisable add extra tang, go proper forward!
- The pasta water is taken into account a binder. It helps create a clean sauce and helps cling to the components.
- Turning the warmth to low or off fully when including the butter helps it soften slower to mix with the remainder of the components, stopping it from separating and making your dish oily.
- The lemon is supposed to distinction and reduce the fats of the bacon, however should you don’t need that, be at liberty to omit the lemon.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge: Retailer leftover shrimp pasta in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
- Reheat gently in a skillet over medium-low warmth with a splash of water or broth to loosen the sauce and revive the feel.
- Freezer: I don’t suggest freezing this because the shrimp will get rubbery and asparagus will get mushy should you reheat it after freezing.
You will have these provides:
- Knife
- Slicing board
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Medium or massive pot
- Massive skillet
- Spatula or picket spoon
- Sieve
- Zester
- juicer
Vitamin
Energy: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 23g | Fats: 26g | Saturated Fats: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g | Monounsaturated Fats: 9g | Trans Fats: 0.4g | Ldl cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 675mg | Potassium: 443mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 867IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 2mg
How you can Make Shrimp Pasta (Step-by-Step Images)
- Cook dinner pasta in salted water till al dente, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water.
- Crisp the bacon in a skillet, then put aside whereas preserving the drippings.
- Sauté asparagus within the bacon fats with a bit of butter till tender, then take away.
- Cook dinner shrimp: Season shrimp, sear shortly on excessive warmth, and add garlic and chili flakes for the final minute.
- Assemble: Return pasta and asparagus to the skillet with shrimp, stir in lemon zest, juice, and a few pasta water. Decrease warmth, soften within the remaining butter and parmesan, tossing till shiny.
- Serve: Add bacon again in, regulate seasoning, and serve topped with pine nuts, parsley, and additional parmesan.
