Shrimp Bolognese Recipe (2024)

If you're going to pulse them, you don't need the largest shrimp you can find, which can also be the most expensive. The smaller the shrimp, the less time in the processor, if at all.

Spoiler alert. DON'T "pulse" the shrimp with the other ingredients, add the "diced" shrimp in the last 3-5 min, otherwise they get overdone and rubbery. I agree with DRC PGH...finish the pasta in the sauce. Also to kick it up a notch, add a few whole shrimp in for each serving. for the last 3-4 min and add the pasta...

It sounds as if this dish might benefit from finishing the pasta cooking in the pan with the sauce. This would flavor the pasta more and produce a less "soupy" sauce.

Tasty! Was like others - why buy big shrimp just to chop up. Should’ve trusted Ottolenghi! When made with small shrimp added near end, this was bland, with virtually no shrimp flavor. Made it second time with pulsed, medium big shrimp (not biggest). It was SO much better. Very flavorful! Second time I cooked shrimp as in recipe and - surprisingly - they weren’t tough at all. Pernod was too dominant the first time around, so second time subbed sherry plus 1tsp crushed fennel seeds. Perfect.

so...this is really good, great flavours, and straightforward to cook. But, the stock at the end made more of a soup than a sauce. I served it bowls, with a fork and a spoon! Will do it again though.

Surprised no one, including the recipe author, has suggested substituting ouzo for Pernod. Ouzo is about one tenth as expensive (~$5) and is also anise-flavored. It's a common aperitif in Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon and readily available in the US.

I've made this 3 times and believe the shrimp make all the difference. 1st I used US Wild shell-on 16-20 shrimp (Woods Fisheries, Whole Foods) and it was fantastic. Next used Costco Kirkland Vietnam farmed peeled, deveined, tail-on, 21-25 shrimp and it was awful. In step 2, the shrimp gave off tons of liquid and never reabsorbed any of it so the tomato paste never thickened or browned; with only 1 c stock, sauce was still watery and shrimp rubbery. 3rd, same shrimp as 1st with fantastic results.

Um, what is the point of buying the largest shrimp you can find (and incurring much greater expense) and then finely chopping them? Sticking to the food budget is tough enough these days. I'd rather peel more shrimp and enjoy such recipes without breaking the bank.

Made this wth my mom for brunch with the family. It sounded intriguing, and I had my doubts, but it's OTTOLENGHI, youse guys! This went beyond expectations. The shrimp (we used big ones) was the texture of tender ground meat. We subbed Aleppo pepper for the red pepper flakes, added only about 1 C of stock, and used 1# of pasta. Everyone had thirds. Followed suggestions and reserved a few whole (poached) shrimp for garnish. More cooking time was needed for the desired consistency. Keeper.

Rosemary for tarragon, white wine for liquor. Wonderful.

Absolutely delicious and a big hit with pescatarian dinner guests. I was VERY skeptical about cooking shrimp that long but trust this recipe- it totally works. I cut back on the broth to one cup as some readers suggested but wound up adding more in the end so I really don’t think any adjustments are needed. Simmered the shrimp shells in vegetable broth for the liquid which added to the lusciousness of the dish.

Two ways to improve this wonderful dish. First, for maximum shrimp flavor prepare your vegetable or chicken stock by cooking your shrimp shells inside the stock for five minutes or so before removing them. Second, to avoid rubbery shrimp, don't pulse them: chop shrimp and add them to the stock for the last two minutes of simmering.

Oh my goodness. Awesome and as leftovers even better. I did not pulverize the shrimp, just chopped with a knife and pulverized the fennel and garlic as others suggested. Used 1/2 amount of chicken stock (use homemade) and an organic Meyer lemon for the recipe. Yummy and easy. Used pasta from a box, but homemade pasta would make this even better. It would soak up the flavors in the sauce and give it a texture that can't be met with a store bought pasta. Will make this again.

I'd be wary of adding so much stock at with 15 minutes remaining in the cooking process. 3/4 cup initially, then a little more if necessary, would provide the kind of loose Bolognese consistency I'm used to. Either that, or using all the liquid, but cooking the sauce down for an hour or so.

Made as directed except for using shrimp stock made from the shells and LOVED it. Would this sauce freeze well? I'm looking for make ahead dinners for a family ski vacation (with a very poorly equipped kitchen), and this would seem like a nice alternative to the meat bolognese I've taken in past years.

Add spinach or asparagus. Maybe less pepper.

WOW this recipe is incredible! I cooked the recipe as written (yep, pulsed the expensive jumbo shrimp) despite a lot of comments recommending otherwise - def splurge on the shrimp for their meaty texture. I only subbed white wine for the Pernod because I forgot to pick some up, but next time would like to try that. I couldn’t imagine what this would taste like before I made it but I always trust Ottolenghi recipes, and will definitely make this one again. A super fun dinner option!

I had shrimp that had been overcooked and rubberized in the freezer from a badly employed curry recipe. I chopped them up in the processor per the recipe & used them with fingers crossed, following instructions except the shrimp were already cooked. Fabulous results. Delicious flavor, slightly dry but just added more broth. Never would have known the shrimp were rescues. My shrimp-hating partner loved it. Probably won’t be able to recreate but this recipe is going in the permanent collection.

Delicious and easy. We chopped the shrimp and added in the last few minutes of cooking. Next time I might do as described in step 2 just to see what a difference that might make.

I agree with Rob. 2 cups of broth was a lot. Ended up needing to hammer that simmering for a little longer and at a little higher temperature than I wanted, just to get back to what was already a good bolognese consistency. I would probably go with 1 or 1.25 cups at most next time. And I will definitely try the shrimp at the end approach as well!

I am a novice chef. Give me a supposedly "easy" recipe like this one, with 14 (!) ingredients, including Pernod (!), and I'm on to the next one!

I agree you really don’t need larger shrimp for this. I did pulse them less. We enjoyed this and I’ll make it again. I wanted a one dish meal so I doubled the vegetable while halving the rest of the ingredients for the two of us. I did add more tomatoes and paste. It worked well and it’s easy and quick.

Delicious! Used a whole fennel, did not use fancy liquor, used Chinese cooking wine, added a tsp of anchovy paste because I used slightly blah shrimp. Used a leftover jarred tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes. Did not use food processor and chopped everything finally by hand. The shrimp don't taste rubbery because they are in tiny pieces and simulate the texture of ground meat. This is an absolutely amazing recipe for pescatarians. I used the suggested liquid amount and it thickened fine.

Delicious. Made as written except the following changes: used whole instead of half fennel bulb, used a little bit of sherry instead, added a tiny amount (barely 1/2 tsp) anchovy paste to kick up umami, finally chopped everything instead of food processing. Shrimp texture was great even though long cooking time. No issues with liquid absorption or sauce thickening with the two cups of broth.

This turned out fantastic! We chopped the shrimp instead of using the food processor, and we actually let it simmer for about 45 minutes longer than the recipe says, which really helped the sauce thicken. The shrimp did not get overcooked in doing so. So thrilled with this recipe!!

Ottolenghi always checks all the boxes with his recipes. No substitutions or changes needed here. Pulse all the shrimp, it’s what will create the bolognese texture. The fennel, tarragon *and* pastis create this lovely Italian sausage flavor.

Make sure to add the chicken broth little by little so that you don’t make the sauce too watery. Absolutely delicious with double the fennel as well.

Wow, I changed nothing, it was beyond excellent. Pulsed half of the shrimp and the other half of the shrimp I cut in thirds.

Pretty good. Watch pasta to sauce ratio. First time was too thin. Also the sauce itself was thin/watery. Finish the last two minutes of pasta in the sauce itself to soak up sauce. Presentation isn’t as nice but the flavor is better.

After cooking countless Ottolenghi recipes, I made this exactly as written. I have learned to trust Ottolenghi, and this was no exception! This Bolognese had an incredible flavour that was only achieved by adding the shrimp to the food processor as instructed. It's a leap of faith but I am glad I took it. I will definitely make this again.