Gordon Ramsay’s shrimp alfredo is king prawns seared fast and tossed with fettuccine in a brown butter, garlic and Parmesan sauce. The prawns take 60 seconds, the sauce takes 5 minutes, and the whole dish is on the table in under 15 minutes. The sweetness of the prawns against the nutty browned butter is what makes this better than any cream-heavy version.
The prawn technique comes from two of Ramsay’s books. In Bread Street Kitchen he cooks prawns directly in brown butter: “Melt the butter and cook over a medium heat until it becomes a deep nut-brown colour.” In Quick and Delicious he says “prawns are the perfect fast food because they take just a few minutes to cook,” and stirs butter in at the end. Both methods keep the prawns tender instead of rubbery.
The rule with prawns is the same one Ramsay repeats across his books: cook them fast and pull them off the heat early. The residual heat finishes them without overcooking. If you wait until they look done in the pan, they’re already overdone by the time they hit the plate.
Gordon Ramsay Shrimp Alfredo
Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes10
minutes520
kcal15
minutesKing prawns seared in brown butter and tossed with fettuccine, garlic and Parmesan. The prawn technique from Bread Street Kitchen and Quick and Delicious combined with the brown butter alfredo sauce from Quick and Delicious. Ready in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- For the Prawns:
400g raw king prawns, peeled and deveined
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Alfredo Pasta:
400g fettuccine
200g butter
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes
80g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Directions
- Cook the pasta: Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Use just enough water to cover the fettuccine. Cook until al dente and drain, reserving a mugful of the starchy pasta water.
- Brown the butter: In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over a high heat. Let it foam and turn golden brown until it smells sweet and nutty, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic and chilli flakes.
- Sear the prawns: Season the prawns with salt and pepper. Return the pan to a high heat and add the prawns in a single layer. Cook for 30 seconds until golden on the bottom, then flip and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a plate immediately.
- Build the sauce: Pour a ladleful of pasta water into the pan. Add the drained fettuccine and the Parmesan, tossing until the cheese melts and coats every strand. Add more pasta water if needed.
- Finish: Return the prawns to the pan and toss gently. Add the lemon zest and parsley. Season with black pepper. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan.
Notes
- Prawn technique from Bread Street Kitchen (brown butter with prawns) and Quick and Delicious (garlic prawns). Alfredo sauce technique from Quick and Delicious. Cook prawns for 30 seconds per side maximum.
FAQs
Why cook the prawns separately from the sauce?
Prawns release water as they cook. If you cook them in the sauce, that water thins the alfredo and turns it watery instead of silky. Searing them separately in the hot brown butter gives them colour and flavour, then you add them back at the end so they stay plump.
Thirty seconds per side is enough. They keep cooking in the hot pasta after you toss them through. For the full alfredo sauce method, see our dedicated page. If you prefer chicken over prawns, the chicken alfredo uses the same sauce with seared butterflied breast instead.
How do you stop prawns going rubbery?
Overcooking is the only reason prawns go rubbery. Ramsay says in Quick and Delicious that “prawns are the perfect fast food because they take just a few minutes to cook.” For alfredo, 30 seconds per side in a screaming hot pan is enough.
The sign they’re done: curled into a loose C shape and pink all the way through. If they curl into a tight O, you’ve gone too far.
What size prawns work best?
King prawns are the right choice. They’re big enough to sear properly and hold their shape against the pasta. Small prawns disappear into the fettuccine and you end up fishing for them. The larger the prawn, the easier it is to get that golden sear without overcooking the middle.
In UK supermarkets, look for raw king prawns in the chilled fish section. The frozen bags from the freezer aisle work too, but defrost them completely and pat dry before searing.
Can you use frozen prawns?
Yes. Defrost them completely in cold water, then pat bone dry with kitchen paper before searing. Any moisture on the surface steams instead of sears, and you lose the golden colour.
Raw frozen prawns work better than pre-cooked. Pre-cooked prawns just need warming through but they don’t get that seared colour and they’re already firmer than ideal.
What should you serve alongside this?
A cucumber salad is the best match: cool, crisp and light against the rich buttery pasta. A kale salad with lemon dressing works too if you want something with more bite.
Keep the side simple. The dish is rich enough on its own. A chunk of crusty bread for mopping up the last of the sauce is all you really need.
Can you use linguine instead of fettuccine?
Yes, and it’s actually the more traditional pairing for seafood pasta in Italy. Linguine is slightly narrower than fettuccine but still wide enough to hold the sauce. Ramsay suggests linguine or tagliolini for his shrimp scampi in Ramsay in 10.
Avoid spaghetti or angel hair for this dish. The sauce slides off thin pasta and pools at the bottom instead of coating every strand.
