Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta

Need to get dinner on the table fast? Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta is not only ready in less than 30 minutes, but it’s also full of robust flavors that everyone will love.

What is Chorizo?

Chorizo is a Spanish sausage that is made from pork and pork fat and spiced with garlic, smoked paprika, and other spices. It’s the smoked paprika that gives chorizo it’s red coloring. It’s a dense sausage like pepperoni or salami and tastes like a spicy version of salami.

What’s a good substitute for chorizo in this recipe:

In this recipe you can use a variety of different types of sausages:

1. Mild or spicy Italian sausage
2. Cajun andouille sausage
3. Cured salami
4. Pepperoni
5. Kielbasa
6. Saucisson
7. Bratwurst

What else can I make with chorizo?

You can substitute almost any dish where you would use sausage for chorizo. Here are a few ideas:

1. Loaded Nachos
2. Chicken tacos to add another flavor element
3. Mixed with scrambled eggs or in a breakfast burrito
4. Chorizo and chicken quesadilla
5. Stuffed baked potato and chorizo
6. Add chorizo to an enchilada
7. Baked beans and chorizo

Shimp comes in different types and sizes

For this recipe, I used Pink Shrimp for two reasons, I love the light pink color and it’s has a little sweeter flavor and it’s a meaty or dense shrimp. In the US, Pink shrimp are usually found in the Florida Keys or on the Gulf Coast of Florida. You can usually buy pink shrimp in most local grocery stores.

Do I have to devein my shrimp?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY! You must devein shrimp before you cook it and eat it. Deveining shrimp means to remove the digestive tract on the back and underbelly of each shrimp. If you can’t bring yourself to devein shrimp, find someone who will do it for you. I think it’s a tedious job so I always enlist my husband to do the deveining. If that doesn’t work, you can always ask your fishmonger to devein it for you.

How much shrimp should I plan per person?

For a dish like this, I usually plan for a 1/4 pound per person. I used a pound of shrimp in this recipe which serves 4 people. I used jumbo sized shrimp which is 21-25 shrimp per pound. Shrimp are sold by the pound with the “count” or number of shrimp in each pound.

Shrimp sizes

• Jumbo – 21-25
• Extra Large – 26 – 30
• Large – 31 – 35
• Medium/Large 36 – 41
• Medium – 36 – 40

If you like this recipe, you might also like some of these:

1. Mexican Style Shrimp Cocktail
2. Crunchy Taco Wrap
3. Peanut Butter and Jelly Cheeseburger
4. Coney Island Hot Dog
5. Tex Mex Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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