Creamy seafood pasta
Shrimp and sweet crab in a garlicky parmesan cream sauce over linguine, a restaurant-style seafood pasta that won’t break the budget.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.45 a serving
- 580 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 oz linguine
- 2 tbsp butter
- 6 oz frozen raw shrimp, thawed, peeled and patted dry
- ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup milk
- 2 oz cream cheese, cubed
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan
- 8 oz imitation crab, chopped into bite-size pieces
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 580 calories, 30 g protein, 79 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring a large pot of water with the salt.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cook the linguine until , following the package. Scoop out 1 cup of the , then .
Al dente. Al dente is Italian for “to the tooth”: pasta cooked until tender but with a slight firm bite in the center. It holds up in sauce and keeps softening a little after you drain it.
How you’ll know: Bite a piece a minute before the package time: tender, with a slight firm bite in the middle and no crunch.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 10 min
the shrimp dry and with the Old Bay.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
the butter in a large over medium-high heat and cook the shrimp 1 to 2 minutes per side, until pink and opaque. Move them to a plate.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Food safety: Shrimp are done when they turn pink and opaque all the way through and curl into a loose C. A tight O means overcooked, not unsafe.
Turn the heat to medium, add the garlic and for 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
Add the milk and cream cheese and for 2 to 3 minutes, until the cream cheese into a smooth sauce.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Keep it at a gentle bubble. A hard boil can make milk sauces split.in the parmesan, then add the crab and warm it for 1 minute.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Add the linguine, shrimp, lemon juice and pepper and , adding splashes of until silky. Scatter the parsley over and serve.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Low heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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