This Breaded Fried Shrimp with Spaghetti has broccoli and asparagus and a light sauce. What’s not to love?! This is another fantastic recipe from Lidia’s Italy in America, one of my favorite Italian cookbooks. I am new to cooking shrimp. I’ve said it before–I’m just not a big fish / seafood person. But this recipe I will make again! I left out the mushrooms and cut back everything by about 1/3. For us this made 4 adult servings (3 at dinner and 1 for lunch the next day, which apparently was quite good. I was not the one who ate it so I can’t report details!
Breaded Fried Shrimp & Spaghetti
It’s a bit tricky to get the timing down but well worth it. Prep everything (defrost shrimp if frozen, chop asparagus and broccoli, slice garlic, grate cheese, fix up flat plates of flour, egg and bread crumbs, slice lemons, slice green onions…) while you bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Set up a plate with some paper towels on it to lay the shrimp on as they are done.
Breaded Fried Shrimp & Spaghetti
It sounds like a lot of work but this was by far one of the best shrimp dishes I’ve made. And of course you could just fry the shrimp and use on other things as well (salads, etc.). If I was going to change anything in this, I might add more vegetables. The original recipe included mushrooms so I used more broccoli and asparagus instead. I think I could have used more of each and it would not have felt “vegetable heavy.” Plus the shrimp makes it all good anyway!
Breaded Fried Shrimp with Spaghetti
Ingredients
For the shrimp
- 1 cup flour
- 2 large eggs
- salt
- 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs
- 12 ounces shrimp peeled and deveined with tails on
- vegetable oil for frying
- lemon cut in wedges
For the Spaghetti
- 1/2 tsp salt plus more for the pot to cook the spaghetti in
- 3/4 pound spaghetti
- 3 Tbs butter
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 1/2 cups broccoli cut in bite sized pieces
- 1 cup asparagus cut in 1" pieces
- a pinch of pepperoncino red pepper flakes
- 6 green onions finely chopped
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
- Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs into 3 shallow pie plates or dishes. (Something you can easily dip the shrimp into). Beat the eggs and a pinch of salt with a fork.
- Season the shrimp with salt, then dredge in the flour, dip in the egg, then into the flour. Place the breaded shrimp onto a plate and set aside while you start the pasta sauce.
- When the water starts to boil, add the spaghetti and set your timer for the "al dente" (just barely done) time for your spaghetti. It will finish cooking in the pan with the vegetables.
- Melt 1-2 Tbs of butter in a large skillet along with the olive oil. Add the garlic slices and cook a few minutes, until softened. Add the broccoli and asparagus. Season with salt and red pepper flakes. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring. Use a ladle to add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the vegetables and cook another 5 minutes, covered.
- As the vegetables are cooking, use another skillet to heat about 1/2" of oil for frying the shrimp.
- When it's hot (dip the tail of a shrimp in to make sure it sizzles!), fry the shrimp in 2 or 3 batches, depending on the size of your skillet. Cook about 3 minutes per side. Lay them on a paper towel and season with salt.Cover with a paper towel to keep warm.
- When the vegetables are almost tender, uncover the pan and add the green onions and another cup of the pasta water. Bring this to a simmer and cook uncovered about 8 more minutes until the vegetables are done.
- At this point the pasta should be done! If it's done a little earlier or later relax, it will still be fine.
- Lift the pasta out of the water with tongs and let drain briefly as you hold it up, then add to the vegetables. Keep lifting the pasta up and putting it into the pan after a brief drain.
- Add the rest of the butter and stir. Remove from the heat and toss with the grated cheese.
- Serve the pasta in bowls and top with the shrimp
- Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze on the shrimp.
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