Shrimp Pasta in a delicious creamy mozzarella sauce, made completely from scratch with sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and red pepper flakes. A great recipe for shrimp lovers!
First of all, let me confess my love for shrimp. It’s one of my favorite types of seafood, and I cook it quite a lot. So, you’ve come to the right place for shrimp recipes! I’ve made all kinds of shrimp pasta through the years, and this recipe definitely stands out as one of my favorites! It was an immediate success in my house! This could become one of your favorite dinner recipes, too!
This shrimp pasta is so easy to make! First, cook the shrimp in olive oil with lots of garlic – your kitchen will smell so good! Then, make the cream sauce by sautéing sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, adding cream, basil, red pepper flakes, paprika. Finally, combine everything together: shrimp, pasta, and the cream sauce! YUM!
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What makes this shrimp pasta recipe work
- It’s key to have all ingredients ready to go and make this recipe as fast as you can, and serve it immediately! Do keep in mind that it’s really easy to overcook shrimp which will make it tough and rubbery and not so tasty. That way you won’t give a chance to shrimp to sit around and cook in its own juices.
- But, what is great about this shrimp pasta is that even if you do over cook the shrimp, you will hardly notice it as the shrimp will be coated in the most delicious, silky sauce that will keep shrimp moist and tender.
- Use short pasta (penne) – that allows the sauce to coat every single bite! Which is perfect in this recipe!
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Delicious shrimp pasta with mozzarella cheese alfredo sauce made from scratch with sun-dried tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, paprika and cream. You'll have a perfectly cooked shrimp: soft and tender and never dry or rubbery!
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free version, use gluten free brown rice pasta)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (drained from sun-dried tomatoes jar or just use regular olive oil)
- 1 pound shrimp (without shells, and deveined)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes (without oil)
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded (never frozen)
- 1 tablespoon dried basil (if using fresh basil you can add more)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes , crushed, add more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 cup reserved cooked pasta water (or more)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some cooked pasta water. Drain the pasta.
- Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sauteing the shrimp as described below:
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar - see note above, or use regular olive oil) in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp, minced garlic and cook the shrimp on one side for about 1 minute, until shrimp turns pink or golden brown on that side. While it cooks, sprinkle the top of shrimp with salt to cover every single shrimp. Make sure not to crowd the shrimp in the skillet, otherwise moisture will form and shrimp won't sear right. After 1 minute, Flip the shrimp over to the other side and cook for about 30 seconds or 1 minute more. The shrimp should be golden color or pink on both sides and not overcooked.
- Remove the shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet.
- To the same skillet, add sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil and sliced into smaller chunks, if needed) and more minced garlic, and saute in olive oil (remaining from shrimp) on medium heat, stirring, for 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. The skillet should be hot.
- Add half and half to the hot skillet with sun-dried tomatoes and bring to boil. Add shredded cheese to the skillet, and stir in while boiling. Immediately reduce to simmer and cook, constantly stirring, until all the cheese melts and the creamy sauce forms. If the sauce is too thick, add a small amount of half and half or reserved cooked pasta water. Add basil, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika. Stir.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt gradually, stirring on low heat and tasting (you might need slightly less than 1/4 teaspoon).
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce, and reheat gently on medium heat. Add the cooked shrimp, stir it in. Taste, and add more salt, if needed. Add a small amount of half and half or reserved cooked pasta water, if the sauce is too thick. Let everything simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes for flavors to combine.
- Note: Make sure to salt the dish just enough to bring out of the flavors of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
WHAT IS HALF AND HALF?
Half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream.
To make 1 cup of half and half do this: combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy, or whipping cream.
More delicious shrimp pasta recipes
I cook a lot with shrimp and pasta, so if you want to try other recipes, check out these:
Creamy shrimp pasta with mushrooms
My family really enjoyed this recipe! I doubled it & made twice as much & I am so glad I did! Super easy to make, I definitely recommend 🙂
So happy to read comments like yours! Glad your family liked this shrimp pasta dish! 🙂
Hey there’s no half and half in China what other product can l use
You can just combine milk and heavy cream. To make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Heavy cream contains 38% fat.
I made a wine effused broth out of the shrimp shells and 1/2 cup of white wine simmered for 10 minutes in a small saucepot and then strained in a colander.
I followed the rest of the directions as stated and as I thinned the sauce I used about 1/3 cup of reserved pasta water because pasta water helps the “silkiness” of a sauce. After that I added shrimp broth.
Cooking the shrimp shells and adding to your sauce is a Paul Prudhomme tip and really adds to Scampi, Shrimp Dianne and now Creamy Mozzarella Shrimp. Great recipe! Thanks
Barbara, you’re very welcome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. And, THANK YOU for sharing your wonderful tips for making shrimp recipes even more flavorful!
My husband and I made this recipie tonight, and we both really loved it! I think next time we’d will use Parmesan cheese. Thank you for sharing this 🙂
You’re very welcome! I am glad you liked it. 🙂
Made this tonight and it was fabulous! Got rave reviews from the family and plan on using it in my meal rotation. So simple to make and so very yummy. Thank you for sharing with us
You’re very welcome, Sharon! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your feedback. 🙂
This was amazing! My family loved it.
Thank you, Mary! 🙂
I TRY IT IT TOOK LONGER THAN 1 HOUR . AND IT WAS BLAND IT NEEDED SOMETHING PLUS WHEN YOU IT TOGETHER IT WAS OVER COOKED
If it’s bland, try adding more dried basil, red pepper flakes and season with more salt, tasting the dish along the way to make sure not to over salt it.
My sauce came out gross and chunky…like the mozzerella just melted and clumped around the tomatoes…I added half and half, pasta water…nothing helped. Suggestions?
What I think happened is that the pan with the sauce was not hot enough and/or the sauce needed more liquid. To fix this, make sure to bring all the liquid ingredients to boil before adding shredded cheese. After you add shredded cheese, stir the sauce while it’s boiling for about 10 to 20 seconds. Then, immediately reduce the heat to simmer (it should still be boiling, but on a lower setting) and keep stirring the sauce and the cheese at all times. If the sauce gets too thick, gradually add extra half and half.
Everything was great but the sauce.. not my favourite needed more than dairy and a couple spices.