We love pasta at our house. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods! I try to not eat as much pasta as I use to so when I do I want it to be really, really good. This Fettuccine with Shrimp, Pancetta, Mushrooms in a creamy tomato sauce is one that hits the mark! I discovered the basic recipe to this dish about 20 years ago and have been making it ever since.
This is one of my favorite pasta recipes. The original recipe, called Fettuccine Margherita, came from the wonderful cookbook “Quick Vegetarian Pleasures” by Jeanne Lemlin. When I make this recipe, I usually don’t change much of the recipe because it’s perfect as it is, but sometimes I like to add other ingredients to it, like shrimp or chicken.
For today, I cooked up some pancetta and shrimp to add to the pasta sauce and it is really delicious. I had a container of pre-diced pancetta from the grocery store but I would have liked bigger sized diced pieces so I would recommend you dice your own to get a good size. The smaller bits got a little lost, but they do add a nice flavor to the dish. For the shrimp, I sautéed them in a little olive oil and added them to the sauce at the end, but I think you could cook them directly in the sauce when you add the tomatoes since shrimp don’t take very long to cook.
I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. But be forewarned, it might just become your new favorite way to prepare a pasta meal!
- 1 lb fettuccine
- 1 lb large shrimp, uncooked
- ½ C. diced pancetta
- 2 Tbls. olive oil
- 2 Tbls. butter
- 12 oz. sliced mushrooms (I prefer the brown ones vs. white ones)
- 4 cloved garlic, chopped
- ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 14oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes
- ¼ C. white wine
- ½ C. heavy cream
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ C. shredded parmesan cheese
- Cook fettuccine according to package directions.
- In small skillet, cook diced pancetta, then drain grease and set aside.
- Sauté the shrimp in a tablespoon of olive oil or butter or even some of the pancetta grease. Set shrimp aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil an butter over med-high heat and saute the mushrooms until they brown and juices start to evaporate. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the tomatoes and wine and cook an additional 2 minutes. If you're adding raw shrimp at this point, then cook until shrimp is cooked and pink. If you've already cooked your shrimp, add it now along with the cooked pancetta.
- Add cream and salt and simmer another minute or so. Keep warm.
- Drain pasta and return to pot or large bowl. Add sauce and parmesan cheese. Toss and serve.
