Seafood has always been central to Venetian cuisine. The earliest Venetians were skilled fisherman and their diet relied heavily on the bounty found in the city’s lagoon ecosystem.
And while the Veneto may not be as famous for pasta dishes as some other regions, spaghettini con le schie is a Venetian celebration of the uniquely delicious small shrimp found in their waters.
While shrimp of this size found stateside are often unappealing (lacking in flavor and quality), we loved the sweet, briny flavors and ease of this dish and decided to develop a simple shrimp pasta that would taste just as good in our kitchens.
We began by halving large shrimp, which have reliably good flavor. We then reinforced the shrimp presence by first cooking the shrimp shells in oil and wine. Shrimp shells are rich in glutamates, which add meaty depth, as well as volatile fatty acids, which generate fresh, delicate flavors when cooked.
The result was a deeply flavored shrimp sauce. Some garlic, butter, lemon zest, and fresh parsley were all we needed to finish this flavorful weeknight dish.
SPAGHETTINI WITH SHRIMP
Servings: 6-8
Start to finish: 30 minutes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds large shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled, deveined, and halved crosswise, shells reserved
1 cup dry white wine
5 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
1 pound spaghettini or thin spaghetti
Nutrition information per serving: 597 calories; 206 calories from fat; 23 g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 211 mg cholesterol; 957 mg sodium; 59 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 30 g protein.
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