Sweet shrimp in a silky garlic butter sauce comes together in the time it takes pasta to boil. The shelf's best choice deserves nothing more than butter, garlic, and a squeeze of lemon, so that is what you get.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 12 at the stove.

About 700 calories a serving, 46 g protein, 70 g carbohydrate, 27 g fat. From USDA figures for 86% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop in 6 oz pasta. Stir once and set a timer for one minute less than the box says; while it cooks, mince 4 cloves garlic.
2. Cut 4 tablespoons butter into four pieces. When the pasta is one minute from done, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the minced garlic, and cook, stirring, until it turns golden, about one minute. The smell will change.1 min
3. Drain the pasta into a colander, saving one cup of the cooking water. Add 12 oz shrimp, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the butter and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until the shrimp are opaque and curled, about three minutes.3 min
4. Toss the drained pasta into the shrimp, pour in one quarter cup of the reserved cooking water, and toss again over the heat for thirty seconds to coat everything. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze both halves over the pan, then taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve at once.

Note Swap the shrimp for scallops or white fish fillet cut into bite-sized pieces; scallops need two minutes, fish three to four. Leftovers keep in a closed container for one day; reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of water. Serve with a green salad or steamed broccoli on the side.