Shrimp and pancetta pasta with capers and spinach, cooked in creamy sun-dried tomato sauce and sprinkled with goat cheese crumbles is the next level pasta masterpiece. It's creamy, simple, delicious, and packed with so many contrasting flavors: sweetness from shrimp, saltiness from capers and rich notes of garlic, butter and olive oil.
Love Shrimp Pasta? Also try Pesto Shrimp Pasta, Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta and Shrimp Orzo.
This shrimp and pasta recipe uses wholesome ingredients, such as spinach, capers and sun-dried tomatoes and is so satisfying due to the cream sauce and goat cheese.
Seasoned shrimp, delicious pancetta with pasta of your choice and there you have an amazing easy dinner - on the table in 30 minutes. This is such a great recipe when you want something tasty with shrimp and pasta, but don't have hours of time for research and prep. Your guests will be crying, begging, slapping their hands on the table for a bite of this delicious family meal.
Why everyone loves shrimp pancetta pasta
It always amazes me how a few simple, quality ingredients can come together to make something so flavorful and delicious. This shrimp and pancetta pasta is special occasion worthy and won't take hours to prepare! Besides cleaning and gathering together the ingredients - no other real prep required. There is a richness to the sauce without being overly rich - just perfect - a real keeper - only wish I had made it sooner.
It's perfect for an easy weeknight dinner and at the same time is fancy enough to serve to guests.
Ingredients for Shrimp Pancetta Pasta
- Shrimp. You will need raw shrimp - you can cook it with tails on or off. I removed the tails after cooking my shrimp
- Pancetta is a salt cured thin sliced meat that is similar to bacon, only much thinner in texture. It is a guaranteed way to elevate everyday meals. Besides, it pairs perfectly with seafood! In this shrimp and pancetta pasta recipe, it provides a robust meaty flavor and definitely brings out a deeper, more complex taste to the entire dish. Prepackaged thinly pancetta would do, but just make sure to chop it.
- Pasta. I recommend using a short pasta, such as penne.Penne is great. You can also use Rigatoni, Farfalle, or Orecchiette, but penne just makes it easier to grab onto the creamy spinach sauce, ensuring you get a bit of everything with plenty of umami in every bite!
- Spinach. Baby spinach works best here, the more the merrier.
- Capers. I like to drain and dry the capers, you can also chop them - that way they distribute better and you can use less.
- Sun-dried tomatoes. I used sun-dried tomatoes in oil, but if you hate those a great substitute is canned halved grape tomatoes.
- Capers.
- Goat cheese. I used crumbled goat cheese, but you can go with Parmesan or crumbled Feta as well.
- Olive oil and butter. I always use a combination both saturated and unsaturated fats in cooking as they blend together beautifully.
- Heavy cream. Whipping cream or heavy cream, as well as half-and-half will equally be great in this Shrimp and Pancetta Pasta recipe.
- Garlic. Garlic is the basis of flavor for this dish. Use 2-4 cloves, if preferred.
- Onion. I chopped half an onion, use either sweet or red onion.
How to make shrimp and pancetta pasta
- Remove tails off the shrimp and season shrimp with salt. pepper and Italian seasoning.
- In a large stainless steel skillet, add butter and olive oil. Once heated add seasoned shrimp and cook until it turns pink without disturbing for 4 minutes.
- Flip the shrimp on the other side and finish cooking for 3 more minutes.
- Now add chopped Pancetta and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove both onto a plate.
Make creamy sauce
- To the now empty skillet - add chopped garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
- Next add capers, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes - blend them in before adding tomato paste and heavy cream. Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer and reduce the cream mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Cook Pasta
Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring every few minutes, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of pasta cooking water. Using tongs, transfer the pasta directly from the pot to the pan with the cream sauce. Don't worry if you transfer some pasta water along with it, as this will help thin the sauce and help it coat the pasta.
Assemble and serve
Turn off the heat. Stir the pasta gently in the sauce until it is evenly coated and add pasta liquid as necessary. Add shrimp and pancetta and serve immediately and garnish with chopped parsley and crumbled goat cheese.
Shrimp and pancetta pasta
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Equipment
- Skillet stainless steel
- 1 spatula
- 1 knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 pot medium
Ingredients
- 10 oz pasta penne or cavatelli
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 10 oz shrimp peeled and tails removed
- 4 slices Pancetta chopped
Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers
- ⅓ cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup spinach
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup heavy cream
For garnish
- ⅓ cup goat cheese crambled
- 1 bunch parsley
Instructions
Cook pasta
- Fill medium pot with water and bring it to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente (almost cooked through). Drain and set aside
Cook shrimp
- Remove tails off the shrimp and season shrimp with salt. pepper and Italian seasoning.
- In a large stainless steel skillet, add butter and olive oil. Once heated add seasoned shrimp and cook until it turns pink without disturbing for 4 minutes.
- Flip the shrimp on the other side and finish cooking for 3 more minutes.
- Now add chopped Pancetta and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove both onto a plate.
Make sauce
- To the now empty skillet - add chopped garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
- Next add capers, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes - blend them in before adding tomato paste and heavy cream.
- Bring the sauce to a gentle boil. Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper.
Final Assembly
- Add shrimp, Pancetta and pasta into the sauce and mix well.
For garnish
- Serve sprinkled with crumbled goat cheese and chopped parsley.
How to store shrimp and pancetta pasta
Shrimp and pancetta pasta is best served as soon as you make it, but leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Leftovers can be re-heated in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes or so until warmed through
FAQ
The sauce came out too oily. Yes it can be oily due to sun-dried tomatoes. What I do is shake the excess off and then do a quick pat down with a paper towel
Can I use bacon? You can sub pancetta for bacon, just make sure to precook the bacon in the oven.
What if the creamy sauce too dry? Just make sure you save the pasta water and add in as needed to loosen the sauce.d
Variations and substitutions
Add some heat. I also like some light heat to my dishes, and I once added some red pepper flakes on top of the black pepper, too.
Use Herbs de Provence. The only change I made to the herb portion is subbing Herbs de Provence [my go to spice] for the Italian seasoning.
Use Prosciutto instead of Pancetta. Isn't it always Pancetta vs. Bacon vs. Prosciutto?
More delicious shrimp pasta recipes
Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausage
Garlic Shrimp Pasta in Red Wine Tomato Sauce
Carla says
Made this tonight; my husband likes to tease me about my cooking but he was gobbling it up before I could even get it on his plate! This recipe is a keeper! (I had to use prosciutto though, my local grocery store didn’t have pancetta).
Olya says
Prosciutto is a great substitute for pancetta. Glad the recipe was a hit!
Sandi says
I don’t see spinach in the ingredient list or in the instructions, how much and when to add please.
Olya says
Sandi - you are right. 1 cup of spinach has been added -it goes in with sun-dried tomatoes.