Drunken Shrimp Sambuca Goat Cheese Pasta

Cook your shrimp

Pat dry shrimp and season generously with salt and pepper. Add 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil to a large frying pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, in 2-3 batches depending on how big your pan is, add shrimp to hot pan, leaving plenty of space between each shrimp. Cook for 2-3 minute per side until almost cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Make your sauce

Bring pasta water to a boil with a generous amount of salt. Once you start to cook pasta, start your sauce. In the same pan you just made your shrimp in, add 1 tbsp butter and melt over medium heat. Add in 3 cloves minced garlic and 1/4 tsp chili flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Then add in 1/4 cup sambuca and cook for 1 minute until it reduces. Add in 150 g of goat cheese in chunks and stir until melted. If your pasta isn't quite ready yet, remove from heat and set aside.

Finish up

Once pasta is cooked, reserve 2 cups of pasta water and add pasta directly to your sauce pan over medium heat along with a big splash of pasta water. Taste and add more salt if needed - just being cautious as you will likely need to add a fair bit of that salty pasta water to keep the sauce thin. Add shrimp to pan and mix well, adding more pasta water to thin out the sauce to an alfredo like consistency.

This sauce thickens up pretty quickly, so err on the side of looser sauce (more water) while it's on the heat.

Remove from heat and mix in parsley and a big squeeze of lemon. Mix well and serve.