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Spicy Shrimp Pasta in Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce - shrimp seared on stove top with crushed red pepper, paprika, and salt, then smothered in a spicy cream sauce made with chopped onions, minced garlic, crushed tomatoes and cream. Seasoned with basil and oregano. Delicious, creamy shrimp pasta recipe with lots of bold flavors!
This spicy shrimp pasta has everything you crave for in an Italian pasta: easy creamy tomato sauce made from scratch, seafood, spices (garlic, paprika, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper) - all of that over the perfectly shaped penne pasta. Simple recipe that you can make at home.
Penne is perfect for this pasta dish as it holds the sauce very well, and with every bite you will get not only pasta and shrimp but a generous scoop of spicy tomato cream sauce too! I've used gluten free pasta (brown rice penne) for this dish as well, and it was marvelous!
Whichever pasta you use, make sure to cook it al dente, then rinse it with cold water, drain it, and only then add it to the sauce. This will preserve the pasta structure and prevent it from getting mushy in a creamy sauce.
How to make spicy shrimp pasta with garlic tomato cream sauce:
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat and cook shrimp on one side for about 1 minute, until shrimp turns pink on that side. While it cooks, GENEROUSLY sprinkle the top of shrimp with crushed red pepper, paprika and SALT to cover every single shrimp. Do not crowd the shrimp and don't skimp on spices:
Using spatula, turn the shrimp over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes (on medium-high or medium heat):
Remove shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet. To the same skillet, add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook on medium high heat in the olive that will have a nice reddish color from paprika and crushed red pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes until onions soften:
Next, add crushed tomatoes and chicken bullion cube dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water. Add basil and oregano, mix everything, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, mixing occasionally and crushing all tomatoes into very small bites, until the garlic tomato cream sauce reduces just a bit. Season with more red pepper and salt, if needed.
Add heavy cream, while on simmer, and mix it in on very low simmer:
Almost immediately after you added cream and mixed it in on low simmer, remove the skillet from heat. Your garlic tomato cream sauce should look like this:
Add back the shrimp and pasta. Mix everything well to combine. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Add more spices (crushed red pepper, basil, oregano), if needed. Gently reheat your spicy shrimp pasta.
Spicy Shrimp Pasta in Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound shrimp without shells, and deveined
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cube chicken bullion (I used Knorr)
- 1 tablespoon basil
- ¼ teaspoon oregano dried
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free version, use brown rice penne)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook on one side for about 1 minute, until shrimp turns pink on that side. While it cooks, sprinkle the top of shrimp with crushed red pepper, paprika and 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. And, don't skimp on spices. Using spatula turn shrimp over to the other side and cook for about 2 more minutes.
- Remove shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet.
- To the same skillet, add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook on medium high heat in the olive oil that will have a nice reddish color from paprika and crushed red pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until onions soften.
- Add crushed tomatoes and chicken bullion cube dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water. Add basil and oregano, mix, bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, mixing occasionally and crushing all tomatoes into very small bites, until the sauce reduces just a bit. Season with more red pepper and salt, if needed. In the end, while on simmer, add heavy cream, mix it in, and immediately remove from heat.
- In the mean time, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta al dente according to the package instructions. Drain.
- Add back the cooked shrimp and cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Mix everything well to combine. Reheat on low simmer, if needed. Do not bring to boil or high heat as it might affect the sauce texture. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- When serving, I like to sprinkle the top of pasta with just a touch of crushed red pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I added too much red pepper flakes, good but almost inedible because it was so spicy, don't add as much as she recommends it's too darn much! Thank for the recipe though.
This recipe was amazing. My husband enjoyed it my son asked for seconds and my tastebuds had a party! I loved it
Thank you! So glad your family enjoyed it!
Didn't come out as I hoped. I think it's better to purée the tomatoes in a blender first
Did you use crushed tomatoes or dice tomatoes in a can? With crushed tomatoes you won't need to puree the tomatoes, but if using diced tomatoes, you might for better texture.
Would this work with rice?
Looking for a quick dinner idea and came across this wonderful sounding pasta. Of course, I did not have a key ingredient-shrimp! But I did have chicken - and it was divine. Did everything about the same, although did cook a little longer than I would shrimp. So, so good - perfect amount of spice. I literally had to push away from the table and get all leftovers in the fridge so I would stop eating!
The only thing addition I would make it to be sure I have a loaf of french bread to soak up all that delicious sauce! Going in my regular rotation!
Great recipe! I've fixed this recipe with bay scallops and penne, now I'm doubling the recipe and adding shrimp along with bay scallops mixed with linguini. It was so good the first time I'm doing it again.
Hi,
I'd like to try to make this but I find the recipe a bit lacking in information. Can you please put the measurements for the seasonings? Also, is it fried basil and oregano?
Thank you,
Tabatha
I tried this recipe today and it was delicious! I used chicken instead of shrimp bc not everyone in the family likes shrimp. I also added crushed red pepper only at the end bc I didnt want it to be too spicy. Amazing, I will definitely make this again.
so glad you liked it! Chicken is great in this recipe, too!
Excellent! It reminds me of shrimp dioblo or shrimp diovolo at bravo.
Julia! I love you dishes but you allow so many advertisements to pop up! Yuck!!!! My computer freezes every time!! It sucks cause I would love to follow you, but it is not worth me wanting the throw my computer. If you fix that, please let me know!
I continue to come back to this recipe. Sometimes I make the full dish, and other times (like dinner tonight) I just make the shrimp as suggested then make something else with it. Delish!! Every time!
Thank you! Yes, the shrimp on its own in this sauce is really good too!
WO! The Looks delicious!
Just FYI: it's "bouillon" when you're talking about the instant stock powder/cubes. "Bullion" refers to bulk gold or silver.
This recipe is great and can be done quickly and not so messy which is key if you have a 5 month old like me or need to cook some crowd pleaser fast. It provides a good base that you can add or subtract from. For instance, I'm not a huge spicy fan but I like a little flavor so I omitted the red pepper. I changed the penne to linguine and I had a bag of trader joes frozen shrimp on hand that was already cut and peeled. I add spinach frozen and mushrooms to it as well. I had garlic already minded in those jars.I omitted the chicken bullion because I didn't want to cough up extra to buy it. But either way it came out great! And what matters most to me is that it is quick easy delicious and there are leftovers for the next day! Husband loved !
Thank you, Jen, I am glad you enjoyed it! Spinach and mushrooms sound like a yummy addition, especially with linguine.
Awwwwmazing...great dish the sauce was awesome and easy to make