Greek Shrimp and Rigatoni
Greek Shrimp and Rigatoni was one of the first recipes I ever made when I first got married and is still a favorite today. My college roommate Deena shared a variation of this dish with me 30 years ago. Since that time, I have been regularly making it for my family! Now a new generation is enjoying this pasta. My daughter is serving it to her husband and they both love it as well!
The sauce is a super easy one made of canned stewed tomatoes with a little white wine and seasonings. It cooks up super quickly on the stovetop. Then the shrimp is seasoned well and sauteed with a bit of butter. Afterwards, the shrimp is placed into a baking dish and a generous amount of feta is sprinkled on top. The shrimp mixture is then covered with that simple tomato sauce baked for about 10 minutes while the rigatoni cooks.
You can use shrimp from the fish market or even frozen shrimp when you are short on time. I use peeled deveined shrimp either way to make it super easy. You can also substitute any tubular pasta if you don’t have rigatoni. Penne works nicely. All in all this dish comes together quickly and makes a perfect weeknight or Sunday night supper.
Serve this Greek Shrimp with Rigatoni with a simple green salad, such as my Favorite Italian Green Salad with Avocado or a simple Greek salad. Don’t forget some crusty French bread! Yum!!
Greek Shrimp and Rigatoni
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 teaspoon chicken base I use Better than Buillion chicken base
- 4 cans stewed tomatoes either regular or Italian
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- zest of one lemon
- 1 to 1½ pounds peeled deveined shrimp fresh or frozen
- 1/2 pound feta crumbled
- 12-16 ounces rigatoni pasta or other tubular pasta, such as penne
- extra crumbled feta and fresh chopped parsely for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉, heat salted water for boiling pasta.
- In a saucepan heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil; add shallots and garlic and cook a minute or two. Now add wine, chicken base and oregano and stir to dissolve chicken base. Add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring to break up the tomatoes. Add in the lemon zest and stir well.
- Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt, pepper, and red pepper. If using frozen shrimp, you do not have to thaw. Just season the frozen shrimp as they will cook quickly and will also continue to cook when baked later. In a skillet over medium heat, add two Tablespoons olive oil and the butter. When the butter is melted and hot, dump the seasoned shrimp in and cook for about 2 minutes.
- In a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray, spoon in the shrimp and its juices from the skillet and sprinkle with the feta. Pour tomato mixture over all and bake for 10 minutes, while the rigatoni cooks.
- To serve, put cooked and drained rigatoni on a plate or in a pasta bowl. Ladle the Greek Shrimp tomato sauce over the pasta and crumble a bit more feta on top (parmesan is good too). Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Serve with a green salad and some bread. Enjoy!