Cilantro Shrimp Pasta

A weeknight scampi with the herb changed and the volume turned up. Cilantro goes in twice: chopped into the butter sauce, and whole over the top.

Why the cilantro matters here. Cilantro reads as citrus before it reads as green, so it does part of the lime's work and keeps the butter sauce from tasting flat.

Home kitchen · 4 to 6 servings

• 2 cups Fresh cilantro, half chopped, half whole leaves
• 1½ lb Large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 lb Linguine
• 6 oz Unsalted butter
• 8 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 Limes, juice and zest
• 1 cup Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 pinch Red pepper flakes
• to taste Sea salt

Herb quantities are given in loose cups, not weight — a cup should look like too much before you chop it.

Method

1. 1 Boil the linguine one minute short of al dente and reserve two cups of the water.
2. 2 Sear the shrimp fast in a little butter over high heat, 60 seconds a side, and remove them while still slightly underdone.
3. 3 Lower the heat, melt the rest of the butter with the garlic and chili, and cook until fragrant but not colored. Add the tomatoes.
4. 4 Add the pasta and a ladle of its water and toss hard until the sauce turns creamy. Return the shrimp.
5. 5 Off the heat, fold in the chopped cilantro, the lime juice and zest. Plate and cover with whole cilantro leaves.