This recipe features a very simple pasta recipe which uses shrimps and a simple sauce to cook the pasta; it also shows us how a simple breadcrumb sprinkle can be prepared and kept ready for serving alongside almost any pasta or Italian dishes that you cook. It’s a new word that I learnt – pangrattoto.
Pangrattoto, or crispy, toasted breadcrumbs, are cooked with herbs and seasonings that make them super flavourful when served as a topping. The breadcrumbs are toasted in butter in a shallow pan, and cooked till crisp and brown. They are then sprinkled onto pasta dishes as a final touch. I have made a similar breadcrumb topping before in my Instant Pot Mac & Cheese recipe, using just butter and breadcrumbs to make this topping. The Pangrattoto recipe here goes a step further by adding in lemon, basil and salt as well. Yummy…
The original recipe called for cascatelli to be used, but I used cavatelli instead because that was the closest I could find. Its shape is fun and interesting, and allows the sauces and Pangrattoto to adhere well enough to the pasta.
Remember to make more of the Pangrattoto to keep else you will regret it when you next eat pasta again!
Ingredients:
- Shrimp: 20 (about 600g), deshelled and deveined, coated with salt
- Salted butter: 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp + 2 tbsp
- Breadcrumb: 1/2 cup
- Parsley: a handful, finely chopped
- Basil leaves: a handful, finely chopped
- Lemon zest: from 1 lemon
- Salt: 1/4 tsp
- Garlic: 2 cloves, finely chopped
- White wine: 1/4 cup
- Ground blackpepper: 1/2 tsp
- Cavatelli: 250g
- Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Method:
- Cook prawn shells in 2 cups of water. Simmer 20min. Discard shells and set stock aside.
- To make Pangrattoto, heat 1 tbsp butter in pan. Add breadcrumbs to coat with butter.
- Stir in 2 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp basil, lemon zest & salt.
- Cook till breadcrumbs turn brown. Remove from heat and set Pangrattoto aside.
- Next, heat 1 tbsp butter in pan. Fry prawns till pink. Set aside.
- Next, stir garlic into remaining butter in pan. Fry till golden.
- Add in white wine, 1/2 cup prawn stock & blackpepper. Cook 4min, stirring continuously.
- Stir in 2 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp at a time. Remove pan from heat.
- Cook Cavatelli till al dente. Transfer to pan with sauce, and return to heat. Add in another 1/2 cup pasta water & cooked shrimps.
- Remove from heat. Squeeze in lemon juice.
- Garnish with remaining parsley & basil. Sprinkle with Pangrattoto to serve.
Disclaimer:
- The serving of cavatelli is only enough for 2 – 3 persons, while the serving of Pangrattoto here is enough for 5 – 6 persons.
Serving:
2 – 3 persons
