Hi all! I’m so excited because I’m currently on my way to attend the 6th edition of the Barilla® Pasta World Championships in Milan and Parma, Italy!! How awesome does that sound?! During the championships 20 young chefs, from around the world, will be coached by 5 prominent Italian chefs and compete for the title of World Pasta Champion! I’m most excited to see all the different concoctions each chef creates during each round.
I’m a huge pasta lover and my absolute, favorite thing about pasta is that it’s so timeless and classic, yet at the same time it has the ability to be so versatile with dishes ever-changing. I also love how pasta always brings people together. I’m always reminded at gatherings with great friends, where everyone brings over their own pasta creation, just how much we eat, laugh, and just overall have a really great time. I’m also always fascinated to see what dish each person brings and where they pulled their inspiration.
Pasta is something you can make very casual, as well as dress up for a special occasion and I really love that Barilla provides a plethora of different types and shapes to choose from. I’m so curious to see which type and shape each chef decides to use for their dishes throughout the competition this week. If you guys are also curious, make sure to follow along on our social pages, as we’ll be covering the event, which takes place from Sept 27 to 29 (this Wed-Fri)! You can also get more information about the event here. Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Shrimp Linguine with Garlic and Saffron Cream
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound Barilla Linguine (1 box)
- 3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails intact
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 small pinch saffron threads, 8 to 10 threads
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to top off
- salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- fresh basil leaves, garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill a large pot with water and place over high heat. Bring water to a boil and add a small handful of salt.
- Add linguine and bring back up to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Boil linguine until al dente, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Transfer to a strainer and drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water. Set linguine and pasta water aside until ready to use.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter and oil into a large skillet and place over medium-high heat.
- Season shrimp generously with salt and pepper and sauté in the skillet, in batches, for about 3 minutes on each side.
- Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.
- Lower heat to medium and melt remaining butter in skillet.
- Add shallots and garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt.
- Deglaze the pan with wine and cook until almost fully evaporated, about 4 minutes.
- Add reserved pasta water and saffron threads and simmer until liquid has reduced by half.
- Stir milk into saffron mixture and simmer. Stir Parmesan into sauce and lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Add shrimp back into the skillet and simmer in sauce for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add linguine, to skillet and toss together with shrimp and garlic-saffron cream.
- Top pasta with more grated Parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Serve.
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This is so good and so easy! I have made it twice and we have licked the platter clean. I have a few non meat eaters in my family, so lightly breaded zucchini rounds done in the air fryer tossed on top were just perfect. thank you from the bottom of our tummies!
So happy you enjoyed this pasta! Such a good idea about using the breaded zucchini rounds for vegetarians!
Absolutely fantastic recipe. My wife and my toddler (4 year old) absolutely loved it! I replaced the milk with heavy cream as suggested by another poster, and it worked fantastically. We also added a pinch of chili flakes when serving and it worked too. Thanks for another recipe in my repertoire!
Sounds like a great recipe. One question in reviewing the recipe you mention milk but cream when you are assembling the dish.
Thanks, Tony
Ah! That’s a mistake that has been fixed! The recipe calls for whole milk!
There is no cream listed in the ingredients!
Soooooo…how much cream? Thank you!
Lol! Yep, no cream! We call it a garlic + saffron cream because the sauce you end up with is quite creamy, but we thought to lighten it up with some whole milk. You can totally swap the whole milk out for heavy cream though!
So great recipe! :)