Pasta Risottata with Shrimp
# Arthur's own — started life as a "light shrimp scampi" candidate and got # reinvented at the stove into a pasta risottata. Instead of boiling the # pasta separately, you cook it straight in a shrimp-and-clam broth, # risotto-style, ladle by ladle, so the starch stays in the dish and the # sauce turns silky on its own. No cream — the body comes from the toasted # shells, the clam juice, and the pasta's own starch. # # 2026-07-02: cooked from the 7/02 plan (as a rework of the scampi). Keeper — # approved. Broth built from toasted shrimp shells + bottled clam juice + # white wine. # # Tips: keep the broth hot in a separate pot so adding it doesn't stall the # cook. Undercook the pasta slightly at each add — it keeps drinking liquid. # Watch the salt: clam juice and parmesan are both salty, so season the # broth lightly and adjust at the end.
Ingredients
- ~350g shrimp, shell-on (or peeled shrimp plus a bag of shells — the shells make the broth)
- 200g short pasta that holds a sauce — ditalini, tubetti, or broken spaghetti/linguine all work
- 1 bottle (~250ml) clam juice — or a scoop of seafood/fish stock
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 3–4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 lemon (zest + a squeeze of juice)
- Large handful fresh parsley, chopped
- Olive oil
- A knob of butter to finish — optional
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes — optional
- Grated parmesan to finish — optional
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Build the broth. Peel the shrimp; keep the shells. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and toast the shells over medium-high until they turn deep pink and smell sweet, ~3–4 minutes. Pour in the wine to deglaze, let it bubble off a minute, then add the clam juice and about 2 cups water. Simmer 10–15 minutes, then strain out the shells. Keep this broth hot on a back burner — you’ll ladle from it.
- Start the base. In a wide pan or shallow braiser, warm a glug of olive oil over medium. Add the garlic (and chili flakes, if using) and cook just until fragrant, ~1 minute — don’t brown it.
- Toast the pasta. Add the dry pasta and stir it in the oil for a minute so it picks up a little color — this is what keeps it from going gluey.
- Cook it risotto-style. Add a ladle of hot broth, enough to just cover. Stir often, and as each addition is absorbed add another ladleful — the same rhythm as risotto. Keep going until the pasta is al dente and the liquid has turned into a glossy, starchy sauce, ~12–15 minutes. Add the lemon zest partway through.
- Finish with the shrimp. Season the peeled shrimp with salt and pepper and stir them in for the last 2–3 minutes — just until pink and curled; they’ll poach in the sauce.
- Off the heat, swirl in the butter if using, a squeeze of lemon, and the parsley. Taste for salt (go easy — clam juice and parmesan are salty). Loosen with a splash more broth if it tightens up. Finish with parmesan if you like.