This one is fairly easy to make and packs a lot of flavor. It comes from NY Times cooking and Lidey Heuck with a few simple embellishments added in.
For this you’ll need: 1 lb spaghetti, 1 lb uncooked shrimp (shelled and deveined), 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 lemons (zested, and for 3 Tbsp lemon juice), 1 Tsp fresh tarragon (chopped), 1 garlic clove (peeled, chopped), 1/2 cup dry white wine, 3/4 cup grated parmesan, 3 Tbsp cold butter (unsalted), salt, pepper.
Pat thew shrimp dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on each side.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta per the package instructions to al dente (generally around 10 mins for dried pasta).
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil, lemon zest, tarragon and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook only until just fragrant and sizzling – about 1 min. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Don’t let the tarragon and zest brown.
Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer and cook until opaque on both sides – about 90 sec per side – turning once. Turn down the heat, remove the shrimp from the skillet to a side plate, and add the wine. Turn up the heat, scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and simmer over medium high heat until the wine is reduced by half – about 6-8 mins.
If the pasta is not fully cooked to al dente, turn off the heat on the wine mixture and set aside until the pasta is done.
Drain the pasta but save 1 cup of the pasta water. Add the drained pasta and the pasta water to the wine mixture over medium heat and stir well so the the pasta is evenly coated with liquid. The sauce should be pretty loose at the moment, but cook enough so that the liquid is reduced slightly – about 5 mins.
Remove the pasta and sauce from the heat and add the butter and 1/2 cup of the parmesan and little at time, stirring as you go, to create an even, velvety mixture. Add the lemon juice and the rest of the grated parmesan at the end to finish things off.
Serve with some addition zest and tarragon added on top.
Dinner at Our Place 