Creamy Corn and Shrimp Skillet Pasta
Freeze-dried shrimp and canned corn in a milk-powder sauce, built in one pot at the truck.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 102
- protein
- 27 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 900 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Linguine or fettuccine | 12 oz | snap it in half so it fits the pot |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried shrimp | 3 oz | rehydrates in about ten minutes |
| Canned whole kernel corn | 1 can, 15 oz | drained; the liquid goes into the pot water |
| Whole milk powder | 1/2 cup | |
| Bouillon | 2 cubes | chicken or vegetable |
| Dried onion flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Grated parmesan | 1/2 cup | the dry shaker kind, not fresh |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/3 cup | chopped, oil-free |
| Dried dill or basil | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Cover the shrimp with cool water in a mug or spare cup. Leave them alone for ten minutes while you set up.
- Bring 900 ml of water to a boil with the bouillon, onion flakes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Add the pasta and cook it until it bends but still has bite, around eight minutes.
- Do not drain. Let the water cook down until it barely covers the pasta. Pull the pot off the heat if it looks like it will scorch.
- Stir the milk powder into a half cup of the hot pot liquid in a cup first, then pour that back in. Dumping the powder straight into the pot gives you lumps.
- Add the drained corn, the drained shrimp, and the oil. Warm it through on low for two minutes.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the parmesan and the dried herb. Salt and pepper at the end, since the bouillon and cheese already brought salt.
The original is a restaurant sauce built on half-and-half and a pound of fresh shrimp. Neither travels. Whole milk powder does the same job once you slurry it in hot liquid, and freeze-dried shrimp comes back close enough in ten minutes of cold water. Cherry tomatoes became sun-dried, which stops them from turning the pot to soup.
The pasta water is the sauce. Cooking the noodles in a measured amount of bouillon water and letting it reduce means there is nothing to drain and nothing to throw away, and the released starch is what keeps the milk powder from separating. Add the cheese off the heat or it goes grainy.
Packing
Pasta, milk powder, bouillon, onion flakes, and herbs go in one bag at home. Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes in a second. The corn can and the shrimp pouch ride on their own.
Variations
- Swap the shrimp for a foil packet of chicken if you would rather not deal with rehydrating.
- A packet of dried mushrooms in the boil water thickens the sauce and adds depth.
- Skip the shrimp and parmesan for a version that works without seafood, though the sauce comes out thinner.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/creamy-shrimp-corn-pasta