Mediterranean Garlic Shrimp Pasta with Grape Tomatoes

This Mediterranean garlic shrimp pasta has all the wonderful flavors of a Mediterranean dish, including lots of fresh basil, grape tomatoes, calamata olives, and fresh garlic cloves. If you follow me at all, you may be noticing a trend here… shrimp, lots of shrimp. Our family is crazy about shrimp…every last one of us.

If your family is like ours and you can’t get enough of this shellfish, read on. This is a full-flavored, mouthwatering shrimp and pasta dish with lots of fresh flavors from the garden.  But best of all…it can be thrown together in 25 minutes.

Growing up, my mother owned at least 150 Bon Appetit magazines. Next to my brother and I, they were her pride and joy. She was always cooking up something fancy from them. Sometimes we liked what she made, sometimes they were a little much for our immature palettes. But I have her to thank for not growing up on nothing but bologna sandwiches and Campbell’s Chicken and Stars soup. Do they even make that anymore? 

This recipe is a spin-off of a recipe that I got from a little Bon Appetit book I picked up  somewhere. But don’t let the name Bon Appetit scare you, it is actually a quick and easy recipe.

Let me take you through the steps to create this Mediterranean Garlic Shrimp Pasta:

Prepare the pasta:

Cook your pasta of choice according to package directions until Al dente.  

Prep the shrimp and veggies:

While the pasta is cooking, slice the grape tomatoes in half along with the olives (if your olives are not already sliced). Chop the green onion and Basil leaves. Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Prepare the shrimp by removing the tails and draining any excess liquid.

Get ready to cook:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use caution not to allow the olive oil to get too hot. You don’t want it to smoke. Add shrimp, sliced tomatoes, chopped Basil, sliced olives, minced garlic, and green onion. 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 lb. uncooked large shrimp, 1 container (10 oz) grape tomatoes sliced in half,1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped, 3 garlic cloves, minced, 2 tbsp chopped green onion,1/3 cup black or Calamata olives, sliced in half, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Cook and stir until the shrimp turn pink, stirring frequently about 3 minutes. As the shrimp cooks, you will notice more liquid in the pan. Do not drain. This will become part of the sauce that adds so much flavor to the pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the shrimp is cooked through, pour sauce over the pasta and toss. Be careful not to overcook or the shrimp will become rubbery. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

About the Garlic

This recipe has a substantial amount of garlic and it plays a leading role in the overall performance of this dish. I believe freshly minced garlic cloves pack a flavor punch that can’t be substituted with mere garlic powder.

I also love that fresh garlic is known to have antioxidant superpowers. So while you can always use garlic powder in place of the garlic if you are in a time pinch, I do highly recommend taking the time to use real garlic cloves in this recipe.  

To make the garlic easy to peel, partially smash your garlic clove with the side of the garlic press (I use my garlic press like a hammer). The peels should come off easily.