Roasted Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta with Breadcrumbs

Most of us have tasted shrimp scampi, right? This shrimp and artichoke pasta recipe puts a twist on a traditional meal by incorporating different textures and flavors into the dish.

The sauteed bread crumbs with parmesean give this moist dish a crunch we don’t expect.

Why I love this Roasted Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta

I love the depth of flavor created with the multiple ingredients: lemon, white wine, tomatoes, artichoke, garlic and onions. The parsley and basil leaves complement the ingredients perfectly.

Finally, the pesto added to the pasta before serving combines all the flavors to make a complex finish that is restaurant quality! I am usually not crazy about pesto but the way it tastes once mixed with the pasta and shrimp is just perfect.

This is a special dish. Make it for a date night at home! Once you’ve mastered it, make it again for a dinner party.

This is my favorite dish from Grace Marie’s Cooking School at Bristol Farms from the year or so I’ve been attending her monthly lunch classes.

Ingredients

Crumb Topping (Make a day in advance)

• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2+ cups Fresh Bread Crumbs – purchase (I will be purchasing) or roughly pulse any rustic bread in a food processor (labor intensive)
• 1 cup Flat Leaf Parsley- roughly chop then loosely pack to measure
• 4 ounces Parmesan Cheese Flakes – purchased
• To Season: Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Shrimp

• 1+ lb Medium Shrimp – purchase peeled & deveined with or without the tail
• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (get good quality)
• 4 medium Roma tomatoes – dice and drain well
• 2 cups Marinated Artichoke Hearts – drain the liquid. If large, slice in half
• 1 medium lemon – quarter lengthwise, remove the seed pocket on each and then thinly slice WITH SKIN ON
• 1 cup red onions – purchase pre cut or cut into a medium dice (in class we used a bag of frozen pearl onions (get 8 oz) which I thought was brilliant as it eliminates chopping time)
• 8 tbs unsalted butter – cut into a small dice
• 2 tbs garlic – very thinly slice or roughly chop
• 1 cup Dry White Wine (or Purchased Chicken Stock)
• 1+ cup Basil – roughly chop, then loosely pack to measure
• to Season: Kosher or Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper

Pasta

• 1 lb Long Pasta (Spaghetti, Linguini, etc) – cook per package directions to al dente
• to Season: Purchased Basil Pesto (this makes the dish better so don’t skip!)

Directions

Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs. Saute until lightly toasted (3+ minutes).

Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature in the skillet then stir in the cheese, parsley and pepper.

Shrimp

Preheat the oven to 450F. Coat 9″x13″ (or larger) casserole with cooking spray.

Combine and toss into the casserole the oil, tomatoes, artichokes, lemon, onion, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine well, then scatter into an even layer.

Roast, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender and slightly charred (30 minutes- watch to ensure proper cooking time for your oven and the type of casserole dish you’re using).

Remove from the oven. Stir in shrimp and drizzle the wine or stock over the casserole ingredients.

Return the casserole to the oven and roast just until the shrimp turn pink (4-6 minutes or less- watch shrimp to ensure it does not over cook or your dish will be ruined!). Remove the casserole from the oven. Stir in the basil.

Pasta

• 1 lb Long Pasta (Spaghetti, Linguini, etc) – cook per package directions to al dente
• To Season: A container of Purchased Basil Pesto
• A Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Transfer the warm pasta to a large serving bowl or platter and toss with the pesto (the amt depends on how much you like pesto).

Serve

Instead of family style serving as shown in the pictures above, take individual plates and layer the pasta, then the contents of the shrimp casserole, followed by garnish of the bread crumb mixture and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Serve immediately.

This recipe can be made with any firm seafood or chicken (fresh or purchased roasted)… dice either into large chunks.

We watched Grace Marie demonstrate this shrimp and artichoke pasta dish along with the Pear, Arugula, Fennel Salad and were able to enjoy the dishes for lunch.

I loved the pairing of the salad with this shrimp dish. So good! All of my friends who attended class also loved both dishes.

You have to try it and let me know what you think!

Thanks for a great cooking class, Grace Marie! Looking forward to the next one on October 5.

Flavor Your Life with an Ounce of Salt. A lifestyle blog by Jen Oliak.