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Pasta with seafood in cream sauce

Seafood Pasta in Cream Sauce

Quick, easy, and seriously good — a family-friendly weeknight dinner that tastes like it came from a restaurant. This creamy seafood pasta comes together in about half an hour, and it's simple enough for a total beginner. Pour a glass of white wine and dig in!

Julia

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Spaghetti

200

Water (for boiling the spaghetti)

Salt

Shrimp

130

Mussels

130

Cream (light, 10%)

120

Hard cheese

Garlic

Olive oil

Butter

Herb blend (Italian seasoning, 1 tsp)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 27 % 3 g

Fats 27 % 3 g

Carbohydrates 45 % 5 g

70 kcal

GI: 0 / 100 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1:

How do you make seafood pasta in cream sauce? Gather your ingredients. You can use a few kinds of seafood separately or grab a ready-made seafood mix. I'm using shrimp and mussels. It's best to bring the cream to room temperature. Reach for durum-wheat pasta — it holds its shape better than the rest.
Step 2:

Thaw frozen seafood ahead of time at room temperature or in the fridge. Let it defrost slowly, without sudden temperature swings, so it keeps its flavor. Rinse the seafood under cold water and tip it into a sieve or colander to drain. Pat it thoroughly dry to get rid of as much surface moisture as possible.
Step 3:

Peel the shrimp, removing the heads and shells. Run a shallow cut down the back of each one and pull out the dark vein. Rinse again if needed and pat dry.
Step 4:

Pasta needs plenty of water so it doesn't clump, so use a roomy pot. Boil the spaghetti in well-salted water until al dente — just shy of fully cooked.
Step 5:

Drain the pasta in a colander.
Step 6:

You can make the sauce while the pasta cooks. Peel the garlic and slice it thin. In a skillet, gently warm the olive oil and butter. Let the garlic infuse over moderate heat for 1 minute, until the fat smells fragrant, then fish the garlic out and discard it — its job is done.
Step 7:

Add the seafood to the skillet. Sauté over moderate heat, turning now and then, for about 3 minutes, until golden. The seafood should be dry going in — otherwise it steams before it sears, which drags out the cooking and leaves the delicate meat tough and rubbery.
Step 8:

Pour the cream into the skillet and turn up the heat.
Step 9:

Scatter in the herbs and a little salt. A pinch of ground black pepper is good too. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat.
Step 10:

Simmer the sauce gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. My shrimp and mussels are large; if yours are smaller, 2 to 3 minutes is enough.
Step 11:

Grate the cheese finely, setting a little aside for serving.
Step 12:

Stir the grated cheese into the sauce. It thickens the sauce and deepens the flavor. Go easy on the salt here, since the cheese is already salty.
Step 13:

Keep the sauce over low heat until the cheese melts.
Step 14:

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and toss. Warm it through with the sauce for 1 minute, then serve right away.
Step 15:

To serve, top the pasta with the reserved cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs. Enjoy!

Pasta is best served the moment it's done. As it cools, the sauce thickens and the dish loses some of its silkiness. A glass of white wine rounds it out beautifully and really brings out the seafood. Next time I'd bump up the cream a little for a saucier result.
Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying. Every oil is good only up to a certain temperature — its smoke point, beyond which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point; they're full of unfiltered organic bits that scorch fast. Refined oils take heat better and smoke higher. If you're baking, pan-frying, or grilling, reach for a high-smoke-point oil — refined sunflower, olive, or grapeseed are common choices.
How do you cook pasta right? Use a roomy pot and about 4 cups (1 liter) of water per 3.5 oz (100 g) of pasta — the pieces should float freely. Salt to taste and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta to boiling water (not cold, or it'll clump) and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until done or al dente (check the package time). Drain in a colander; don't rinse. If you're not tossing it with sauce right away, return it to the pot and stir in a teaspoon of olive oil or a pat of butter to keep it from sticking.