This pasta recipe is great because it comes together with very few ingredients. I had initially wanted to make a creamy cajun pasta but didn’t have any cream, and then wanted to make shrimp scampi and didn’t have any wine, so I decided to to make something with shrimp and my low budget chorizo substitute i.e Hungarian sausage. 

If you’re wondering where to get any of these ingredients in Lagos, Deli’s sells Chorizo and Hungarian Sausage can be bought at Shoprite. If you’re not going to the market for your seafood, The Fish Shop is great for large prawns.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 400g long pasta e.g spaghetti, fettuccini, tagliatelle

• 4 Hungarian sausages (or chorizo)

• 8 - 12 large shrimp

• 4 cloves of garlic (crushed/grated)

• ¼ cup of olive oil (more if you like)

• 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon of cajun spice

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• ¼ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano (more if you like)

• Parsley 

Method

1. Boil pasta one minute under package directions. When cooked reserve a cup of the pasta water and run cold water over the cooked pasta to stop the cooking

2. Clean and remove the tails from the shrimp, pour lemon juice over them and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper

3. Slice sausage into thick disks

4. Add butter and olive oil into a flat wide-bottomed pan over medium heat, add chorizo and cook until golden brown

5. Remove the sausage from the pan and add the garlic and cook until fragrant being careful not to burn

6. Add the shrimp with half a teaspoon of paprika and cajun spice each

7. Cook the shrimp for about 2 minutes and then add ½ cup of the reserved pasta water and the rest of the paprika and cajun spice

8. Add the cooked pasta and sausage

9. Toss to coat the pasta well

10. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper

11. Serve garnished with parsley and parmesan