Spaghettoni with Shrimp & Peppers is an easy and elegant pasta dish suitable for any day of the week.
A couple of months ago I posted my Lemon Spaghetti with Shrimp recipe and I must say it turned out to be quite popular.
Might it have been because of the jumbo shrimp? Maybe it is the ease with which the recipe comes together! Or is it the pretty spaghetti twirl? Whatever the reason may be, it turned out to be my most pinned recipe and shared on Pinterest over 1K+ times!! So thanks for spreading the love!
Which now brings me to this dish…Spagattoni with Shrimp & Peppers. This pasta dish is adapted from my very first cookbook, La Cucina di Pasquale, featuring Italian gourmet meals.
Pasquale was one of the first celebrity chefs in Canada and an operatic singer known as the singing chef. He would often engage his audience when cooking, with his tenor arias.
Red and white wines are staple ingredients in his recipes, as are brandy and vodka. This spaghettoni with shrimp & peppers, features both white wine and brandy but not to worry as alcohol evaporates while cooking. What remains is a wonderful concentration of flavor as the wine and brandy simmer along in the sauce while keeping the shrimp moist.
My hubby loves this dish! The very first time I made it for him, he inquired as to what I had added to the sauce. Sitting up straight in my chair I innocently replied, “your Remy Martin cognac.”
Well…his head shot up, eyebrows rose up to his forehead and he stammered out, “which Remy Martin”?
Tongue in cheek I answered back, “well, you know the one that says V.S.O.P on the bottle and stands for very special other person!”
With a smile on his face, he led me by the hand and showed me a less expensive bottle of brandy to cook with. Guess which bottle I still use today…!
Seriously though, you can use any type of brandy you like!
A favorite quote of Pasquale’s which really resonates with me is “The pasta should not wait for the sauce, the sauce can wait for the pasta.” This makes all the difference in cooking pasta al dente, which is firm to the bite or having mushy overcooked pasta.
Spaghettoni are wider and thicker in diameter then spaghetti. They hold up wonderfully and are perfect for this more robust, shrimp and pepper sauce. However any type of spaghetti is just fine as well.
Over the years I have made some slight adjustments to the recipe but only to compensate for the extra pasta noodles. I have also made this recipe many times over the years without the shrimp and it turned out just as delicious! Something to keep in mind for those who are not fans of shrimp.
Which ever way you make it, enjoy!!
Spaghettoni with Shrimp & Peppers
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 2 cups cooked shrimp
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- pinch of chili pepper
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 454 grams spaghettoni or spaghetti
- grated Parmesan cheese to taste
- chopped parsley to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large sauce pot filled with cold water, to boil.
- Meanwhile:
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté together the garlic, red onion, green and red peppers for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the shrimp, tomatoes, basil, chili pepper, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes.
- Add in the white wine, brandy and the butter. Stir the sauce and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
- At this point your water should be at a roaring boil. Add in salt to the water and pasta. Stir well and cook according to package instructions.
- Drain the spaghettoni and place the pasta on a serving platter.
- Pour the shrimp sauce over the pasta.
- Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
Lynz Real Cooking
June 10, 2016 at 2:56 pmLooks so good Marisa!
Marisa
June 10, 2016 at 5:50 pmThanks Lynn! BTW your grand-babies are so cute!
Lynz Real Cooking
June 10, 2016 at 5:51 pmThanks! I have to agree xxx
Marisa
June 10, 2016 at 5:53 pmxxx 🙂
anotherfoodieblogger
June 10, 2016 at 6:45 pmHubby and I are HUGE fans of shrimp. This looks soooo good! Those shrimp are just gloriously pink!
Marisa
June 11, 2016 at 8:34 amThey do cook down to a very attractive colour don’t they!!?thank-you?
apuginthekitchen
June 10, 2016 at 7:14 pmLooks so delicious. Love shrimp and pasta this dish really is wonderful.
Marisa
June 11, 2016 at 8:31 amIt is really so simple and so tasty, everyone always requests the recipe! Thank-you xxx
cookingwithshy
June 10, 2016 at 11:57 pmLove this!!! and you have photographed the dish so well too!!!
Marisa
June 11, 2016 at 8:22 amThank-you so much for your lovely comment?
SweetRevelations
June 11, 2016 at 8:00 amHilarious post Marisa! The pictures here are gorgeous and the dish itself looks incredible. I wish I had more confidence in the pasta department, beyond spaghetti and tomato sauce lol. This looks like something I could do!
Renee
Marisa
June 11, 2016 at 8:19 amRenee you whip up the most gorgeous desserts and I have great confidence in you my friend! It will be a breeze for you???
Sheryl
June 12, 2016 at 4:38 pmThis dish is absolutely beautiful, and it sounds wonderful.
Marisa
June 12, 2016 at 6:16 pmHi Sheryl, it makes a delicious and easy meal to impress guests? thanks!!
Isabelle @ Crumb
June 12, 2016 at 4:40 pmI can’t speak for anyone else, but in my books, anything topped with shrimp is a must-eat. 🙂 (Especially if it’s prepared with both wine AND brandy. Hello, boozy deliciousness!)
Love the combination of heartier flavours in this sauce… it’s such a nice change of pace from the lighter, creamier flavours that are more commonly paired with seafood. There’s a bag of big fat tiger shrimp in my freezer that will probably be making their way into this dish very soon.
Marisa
June 12, 2016 at 6:12 pmHi Isabelle, I simply love your sense of humour!! I hope you get to try them….simple and yet so tasty? Thanks so much for dropping by?
chef mimi
June 13, 2016 at 9:50 amBeautiful! A perfect summer pasta!
Marisa
June 14, 2016 at 11:45 amThank-you so much Mimi?
pblevitt
June 14, 2016 at 7:41 pmA celebration of color, flavor and texture and if that were not enough it is over pasta!
Marisa
June 14, 2016 at 8:39 pmLol…thanks Bella, you always leave the nicest comments?
anitacuisine
June 15, 2016 at 5:34 amthis looks soo good and I haven’t had any lunch until now…so I’m drooling 🙂
Marisa
June 16, 2016 at 6:41 pmlol…thanks so much Anita 🙂
Diana L
June 15, 2016 at 8:11 amOh wow!!! Now I’m disappointed I’m not even close to my kitchen . This dish looks so amazing!! I think I’ll have to invite company over this weekend just so I can make this fantastic looking dinner.
Marisa
June 16, 2016 at 6:39 pmEnjoy Diana and thanks for dropping by 🙂
anyone4curryandotherthings
June 16, 2016 at 12:03 amMarisa, YES – a 100 % yes to this lovely dish. Living right at the edge of the Arabian Sea we are blessed with seafood galore and we adore shrimps/prawns!!! Grazie mille, ciao Carina
PS – something must have gone wrong with my W/P connection. I know I started following you some time back but never received your notification in my mail. So, today I click “follow” once more 🙂 🙂
Marisa
June 16, 2016 at 6:36 pmHow wonderful living by the Arabian Sea!! Thanks for re-following, there must be a glitch with WP and others seem to have the same problem. !
Sadie's Nest
July 16, 2016 at 2:03 pmBeautiful. I want to eat my computer screen. (Not kidding)
Marisa
July 16, 2016 at 10:58 pmlol…thanks Sadie for all your lovely comments 🙂 xxx