Vermicelli with Shrimp in Pink Sauce
Region: Italy
Category: Pasta with Shellfish
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive

This elegant weekend preparation is based on a cream sauce made pink by the tomato.  It is somewhat labor intensive as you need to prepare the shrimp broth first. One would like to make it with fresh shrimp with their heads, in which case you’ll need 4 pounds of shrimp, but it’s so rare one finds fresh shrimp.  A quick tomato sauce can be made by cooking 1 chopped garlic clove in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then adding 1 to 2 cups crushed tomatoes, a basil leaf, and some salt and pepper and cooking on medium heat for 15 minutes. Vermicelli is slightly thinner than spaghetti but thicker than capellini.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 5 hours in all

4 pounds fresh large shrimp with heads or 2 pounds defrosted large shrimp, heads and/or shells saved

2 quarts water

1 cup tomato sauce

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

1 cup heavy cream

1 pound vermicelli or spaghetti

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place the shrimp heads, if any, and shells in a large saucepan.  Cover with the water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 4 hours.  Strain the broth through a colander and discard all the shells and heads.  Return the broth to a smaller saucepan and reduce to 2 cups over high heat, about 30 minutes.  Transfer to a yet smaller saucepan and reduce to 1 cup over high heat, about 20 to 30 minutes.  Strain through cheesecloth-lined strainer into a large flame-proof casserole that will hold all the pasta.

2. Add the tomato sauce and parsley to the shrimp broth in the casserole and cook over medium-high heat until reduced by a quarter, then add the cream, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer while you finish the preparation.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, salt abundantly then cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.  Drain without rinsing.

4. Season the sauce in the casserole with salt and pepper, transfer the pasta to the sauce, and cook over medium-high heat until the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes, and serve.

Variation: 

Note: 

Posted: 12/21/2006

Needed Recipes:

Tomato Sauce