Ina Garten Uses a ‘Secret’ Shortcut in Her Shrimp Pasta Recipe for a Quick Weeknight Dinner
Ina Garten makes a quick pasta recipe that uses a store-bought ingredient that’s so easy. The Barefoot Contessa star claims people can’t tell it’s not homemade because her recipe amps up the flavors.
Ina Garten’s easy shrimp pasta recipe uses 1 store-bought shortcut
Garten’s shrimp and linguine fra diavolo is a simple comfort food pasta recipe that she’s perfected. She demonstrated how to make the easy dish on an episode of Barefoot Contessa.
Garten may use a store-bought shortcut ingredient in the recipe, but you would never guess it. “Pasta with shrimp and spicy red sauce definitely qualifies as Italian comfort food,” she said. “I’m going to show you my version — with a shortcut. Want a clue what it is? The secret is in the sauce.”
She explained how to elevate the dish even with her easy trick. “And the shortcut is store-bought sauce,” she explained. “But I’m going to hot rod it so you’ll never know it’s store-bought.”
The Barefoot Contessa star boiled linguine in a large pot and got to work on the sauce. She cooked red onions in butter and oil until they were tender, then added garlic and red pepper flakes. “Even though I’m using a jar of arrabbiata sauce, you’ll never know it’s store-bought,” Garten explained. “It’ll taste homemade because of the freshness of this.”
Garten shared the perfect sauce to use in her pasta recipe
Garten seasoned the shrimp with salt and pepper, then added them to the onions and garlic. She seared one side, then turned the shrimp over when they were slightly pink. Finally, she added white wine to the pan and let the shrimp simmer.
“I love the name of this dish … fra diavola,” she said. “It means brother devil. It means it’s really spicy.”
Garten prepared a special topping for her pasta recipe that adds a crunch. “I love texture and I thought it would be really great to have crispy crumbs on top of this so I’m going to make a little panko topping,” she said.
The Barefoot Contessa star added panko crumbs to a pan with melted butter and heated the mixture until it was brown and crispy. She added parsley, salt, and pepper.
Once the wine was reduced in the sauce, she poured in the jarred arrabbiata sauce. “Don’t be tempted to use marinara sauce for this,” Garten advised. “Arrabiata sauce has this gutsiness, like this really wonderful spiciness that’s important in this dish.”
Garten added a crunchy topping to the dish
The Food Network host added the cooked pasta to the sauce. “I don’t drain it so I can save the pasta water in case I need more,” Garten noted. “And the starch in the pasta water helps thicken the sauce. Don’t throw it out.”
She seasoned the pasta with salt, pepper, added parsley, then tossed everything with tongs. Garten served the pasta dish in a bowl with a sprinkle of the crunchy panko crumb mixture.
As she plated the dish, she said of her store-bought ingredient, “I’m not gonna tell if you’re not gonna tell.”
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
