This Simple Spicy Pasta Shrimp is an easy 20-minute meal that is perfect for a weeknight dinner. This shrimp spaghetti packs a huge punch of flavor, with plenty of garlic and chili, extra red pepper flakes and crushed and fresh tomatoes you can have a delicious sauce with no cream. The crunchy pangrattato topping adds something extra to this delicious recipe. Perfect for date night or entertaining.
Heat the oil in a heavy based skillet/frying pan.1 tbsp olive oil
Add the breadcrumbs and fry over medium heat until crispy and golden brown.½ cup/ 50gg breadcrumbs
Remove the breadcrumbs from the pan and mix with the crushed garlic and dried basil. Set to one side until needed.2 cloves garlic¼ tsp dried basil
To make the pasta and sauce
Peel and thinly slice the garlic, then cut the red chili in half, remove the seeds and mebrane then finely slice.4 cloves garlic1 red chili
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, once boiling add the pasta and salt and cook the pasta as per the packet instructions. Once cooked reserve 2 cups of the pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta.12 oz/ 340g pasta1 tbsp salt
While the pasta is cooking make the sauce
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet/frying pan.¼ cup/ 60ml olive oil
Add the sliced garlic and chopped red chili, then cook over medium heat for a minute until fragrant but not colored.
Turn up the heat and pour in the broth. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce for a minute.½ cup/ 125ml shrimp stock
Add the canned tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, suagr, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and oregano.1 can crushed tomatoes1 ½ cup/ 250g cherry tomatoes1 tsp sugar½-1 tsp red pepper flakes½ tsp salt½ tsp black pepper½ tbsp dried oregano
Stir well and bring to a simmer. Add in the shrimp and cook for 4 minutes until the shrimp have just cooked through.1 lb/ 450g raw shrimp
Add the drained pasta and ¼ cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Stir to combine, adding more cooking water as needed.
Serve the pasta sprinkled with the prepared pangrattato and fresh basil garnish.
Notes
If you have them, make your own breadcrumbs, they will have a better texture. You can do this with any stale bread you have leftover. Or pop a couple of slices in the oven for 5 minutes to dry them out. If you haven't got stale bread available then panko breadcrumbs will work well too. Just don't use the sawdust style breadcrumbs, they will leave your dinner powdery rather than crunchy.
You can replace the shrimp stock/broth with fish broth or vegetable broth.