Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Shrimp Pasta is a decadent dinner recipe that combines flavorful sauteed shrimp with spinach, pine nuts, and homemade alfredo sauce.
Why this recipe works:
Think about how much you love fettucine alfredo. Now add succulent tender shrimp. Now mix in roasted garlic, wilted spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts for for flavor and texture. Are you drooling yet?
Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Shrimp Pasta is one of those dinner recipes that has everything.
- The shrimp provides protein and will keep you full.
- The spinach, roasted garlic, and sun dried tomatoes provide color and balance out the otherwise heavy meal.
- And the pasta, pine nuts, and homemade alfredo sauce give this meal the flavor and richness you crave.
This dinner has everything you want in a meal - taste, texture, color, flavor. It's really easy to make too!
Not looking for easy and want to make the best darn meal you can? Go the extra mile and use homemade pasta. You'll never be the same again.
What to serve with this recipe?
I always have side dish recommendations to go with any meal. Usually I like to pair a nice light green salad or some roasted veggies on the side. Because of all the spinach in this recipe, I actually don't think this pasta recipe needs anything else?
Of course, I'd never turn down a nice piece of garlic bread with a meal like this. Otherwise, sprinkle on some freshly grated parmesan and you're good to go!
How to reheat it:
Both shrimp recipes and pasta recipes with a rich cheese sauce like alfredo can be tricky to reheat. Most of us like to stick our leftovers in the microwave and blast them at full power to get the quickest results. You can't do that with this recipe.
The key to reheating shrimp with alfredo sauce is to do it low and slow. If you're reheating in the microwave, be sure to reduce the power to 50% or lower. Only reheat in one-minute increments and be sure to stir in between each of those minutes.
Same rule applies if you reheat your shrimp pasta on the stove. Use a very low heat and stir constantly.
If you reheat this Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Shrimp Pasta, the shrimp will get tough and the alfredo sauce will turn into grease and will no longer be a creamy rich cheese sauce.
Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound Fettuccine
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream (divided)
- 1 ½ cups parmesan cheese (grated)
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes (chopped)
- ¼ cup pine nuts (lightly toasted)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
Shrimp:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste (I don't measure, I just toss some in))
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound extra-large raw shrimp (shelled and deveined, tail on)
- 4 teaspoon fresh parsley (minced)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon)
Instructions
- Cook pasta in large pot of salted water. Reserve about a cup of the cooking water to thin sauce later, if needed. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, you can make the alfredo sauce in one pan and the shrimp in a separate skillet.
- For the alfredo sauce, add butter and garlic to a saute pan and heat over low heat. Allow to cook until the butter is infused with the garlic, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of heavy cream, stir, and allow to come to a simmer. Increase heat to medium, if needed. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and immediately add in parmesan cheese and remaining heavy cream. Stir to combine. It will take several minutes for the cheese to melt. It will look goopy at first and then the sauce will be creamy and smooth. If sauce needs to be thinned, add additional heavy cream or some of the reserved pasta water. Stir in sun dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and spinach. Spinach will wilt in hot sauce.
- To make the shrimp, melt butter with olive oil over low heat in large skillet. Add garlic and sauté until garlic is infused and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add wine, salt, red pepper flakes, and freshly ground pepper and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let wine reduce by half, which will take a few minutes. Add shrimp in a single layer and sauté until they just turn pink, 2 to 4 minutes each side depending upon their size. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice.
- To serve, toss hot cooked pasta and shrimp in sauce sauce and serve immediately.
Lauren Velez
All I have to say is OMG! This dish was AMAZING! I am definitely an amateur in the kitchen but this has been the BEST meal I have ever made. Very simple to follow the directions and came out wonderful... I didn't have tail on shrimp but I also prefer tail off in my pasta dishes so that was my only substitution and I added sliced white mushrooms when I sauteed the garlic for the sauce.
Julie
Sun-dried tomatoes are my favorite thing in pasta! Can't wait to try this!
Steph
My family LOVES shrimp and they keep asking me to make this it was so good!
Beth Pierce
It just so happens I have some shrimp I need to cook! I will be giving this a try tonight; looks splendid!
April
This looks amazing! So much flavor!
Andie Thueson
Wow! This looks absolutely Ahhhmazing!!! Such a great weeknight dinner.