I made this the other night as a last minute dinner and posted it on my story thinking it was no big deal, but tons of you wanted this recipe! So that being said, here it is! This is a super easy meal to whip up and only requires a few ingredients. This pan sauce is made with butter, white wine, lemon, cherry tomatoes and a pop of Parmesan. The browned bits from the seared shrimp are combined with the wine to add tons of flavor to the sauce.
If you aren’t keen on shrimp, feel free to serve this pasta with seared scallops. That’s actually my favorite way to make this dish because the caramelization from the scallops provides a richness to the sauce. However, I also love it with shrimp for a more mild, buttery, light flavor. Either way, you will love it if you enjoy butter sauces, seafood and pasta.
For my pasta, I used a mezzi rigatoni — a shorter rigatoni pasta, not the longer version. You can use any pasta shape you want here, but I prefer anything with a hole in the middle to drink up all the sauce. Bucatini, mezzi paccheri perciatelli, ditalini, penne, pipe rigate, or ziti would also do well here. Linking some pasta brands I like below!
Rigatoni with Shrimp in a 10-Minute Cherry Tomato White Wine Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- Salt to have on hand for seasoning the pasta water and tomatoes
- 4 oz. mezzi rigatoni *can sub with any pasta outlined above
- 16 oz. shrimp
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 tsp lemon juice *or just one generous squeeze
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 1/2-3 cups cherry tomatoes sliced in half crosswise
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for topping
Directions
- Fill a pot 2/3 of the way with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add 2-3 generous pinches of salt to the water.
- Lay the shrimp on a paper towel and pat them dry with another paper towel. Season them with salt.
- Season a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high heat until the oil is shimmering.
- Right before you put the shrimp into the pan, give them one more pat dry. (The shrimp being dry will help them get nice and golden brown, which = flavor!)
- Sear the shrimp 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. (The goal here is to hit them with a high heat and develop these golden brown bits because it will help flavor our sauce!)
- Remove the cooked shrimp from the skillet and place on a clean plate. Adjust the heat to medium.
- Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup white wine and use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the golden brown bits off the pan, so they dissolve into the sauce. If there are any pieces of shrimp stuck to the pan. remove them and discard. Let the wine bubble and reduce on medium high heat for about 1-2 minutes.
- Adjust the heat to medium low and then add the lemon juice and butter.
- While the butter is melting, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente (instructions on the box will let you know how long — typically 6-7 minutes.)
- Return back to the skillet, where the butter should be melted or close to it. Once the butter is melted, add the tomatoes. Toss the tomatoes into the butter mixture, until they are fully incorporated. Season with a light pinch of salt.
- Let this bubble and thicken for 2-3 minutes, while the tomatoes soften. Then, go in with your spatula and crush the tomatoes, allowing their juices to combine with the wine mixture.
- Simmer on medium low heat for another 3-4 minutes until your pasta is al dente. The sauce should thicken and reduce, but not too much where you don’t have any more liquid. It should be about half the amount you started with and thick from the tomatoes.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta into the sauce mixture. A little pasta water will come with the transfer to help the sauce stick to the noodles.
- Toss the pasta until it’s fully incorporated into the sauce. Gradually sprinkle the parmesan on top as you mix the pasta with the sauce. Continue to do this until you’re out of Parmesan and the Parmesan is fully incorporated into the sauce, sticking to the noodles.
- Add the shrimp into the pan and toss until fully coated in the sauce.
- Serve immediately and top with more Parmesan. You can also top with parsley or basil. Enjoy!
Rate & Review
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?