Skip to main content

Shrimp in a Chunky Marinara Sauce

This dish is excellent served as a main course or as a dressing for pasta. (Toss the pasta with the sauce and top the plates with shrimp.) It is also delicious spooned over hot Soft Polenta (page 346).

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 6 servings

Ingredients

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 1/2 pounds jumbo shrimp (about 30), peeled and deveined
Salt
One 35-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), cored and coarsely crushed
1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
8 fresh basil leaves, torn into quarters
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook, shaking the pan, until golden, about 1 minute. Add as many shrimp as fit in a single layer with some space between each. (If you crowd the shrimp, they will steam in their own juices rather than get crunchy with a lightly browned exterior.) Cook, turning once, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

    Step 2

    With a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a plate, leaving as much garlic as possible in the pan. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the tomatoes into the skillet, season with salt and crushed red pepper, and bring to a vigorous boil. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, and cook until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the shrimp, basil, and parsley and cook until the shrimp are heated through, just a few seconds.

Image may contain: Spaghetti, Food, Pasta, Human, and Person
From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon.
Read More
Like airy lemon chiffon cake and a Cadbury egg–inspired tart.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Like coconut lentil soup and chicken stroganoff.
A warmly spiced Ashkenazi charoset, perfect for your Passover seder—or spooned over yogurt the next morning.
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Put that half-full tub to use with recipes that go beyond the Italian American classics.
This one-pot dinner cooks chicken thighs directly on top of a bed of flavorful cilantro rice studded with black beans for a complete dinner.
Use this classic lemon curd on scones, in yogurt, or between layers of meringue.