Shrimp and artichoke spaghetti

 Shrimp & Artichoke Spaghetti — Improvised Italian Alchemy 🍤

This dish was born not from a recipe, but from that glorious instinct to raid the pantry and make it taste like Salento.

I started by flooding the pan with an unapologetic amount of garlic 🧄, then added tender artichoke hearts and two anchovy fillets — not to be seen, only to deepen the soul of the sauce. In went a splash of dry white wine, homemade shrimp stock, a whisper of oregano, a luxurious touch of heavy cream, and just a few sacred drops of colatura di alici — liquid umami thunder.

The al dente spaghetti was coated in this glossy coastal elixir, with the shrimp added only at the very end, just barely kissed by heat.

Plated with torn fresh basil 🌿 and a dusting of dried peperoni cruschi — fiery, sweet, crackling like sunburnt Southern summer.

Wine pairing: a mineral, volcanic Etna Bianco — sun, sea mist, and lava in a glass. 🍷

🛒 Ingredients (serves 2 generously)

200 g spaghetti (preferably bronze-cut)

200–250 g fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined

3–4 artichoke hearts (jarred or grilled, not marinated in vinegar)

4–5 large cloves of garlic, finely sliced

2 anchovy fillets in oil

80 ml dry white wine

120 ml shrimp stock (or light fish stock)

80 ml heavy cream (minimum 30% fat)

A pinch of dried oregano

3 to 5 drops colatura di alici (nothing more)

Fresh basil leaves for finishing

Dried peperoni cruschi (or other mild sweet dried pepper flakes)

High-quality olive oil

Sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper