Take of the finest cherries you can procure — those pulled fresh from the tree being most preferable, their sweetness still warm from the afternoon sun. Place them whole into a small pot with just enough cold water to cover, and set them over a gentle heat. Allow them to give of themselves entirely — some eight minutes ought to suffice — until the skins yield and the water blushes a deep and lovely crimson. Reserve this liquid. It is the soul of the thing.

Set a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil and cook your shell pasta — conchiglie being most suited to this preparation, for each shell is in fact a small vessel designed by nature to receive and hold exactly what you are about to give it. Cook to al dente, no further, and drain with intention, keeping back a measure of the starchy water for the finishing.

Now attend to the shells. Shrimp shells, which the uninitiated would discard without ceremony, are in fact the most consequential ingredient in this preparation. Lay them into a dry pan over a lively heat and leave them to their work — two minutes, perhaps three — until they curl at the edges and perfume the kitchen with something oceanic and ancient. Add then four fat cloves of garlic, smashed but not destroyed, and two generous tablespoons of the best olive oil your pantry affords. Let this bloom for no more than a minute and a half. The garlic must not brown — it must only speak.

To this fragrant pan, introduce your marinara — a garlic-forward preparation of good character and honest olive oil — and allow the shells to remain within it as it simmers these five minutes. They have more to offer. When you are satisfied they have given all, remove them with a spoon and set the shell-blessed marinara aside. Cook your shrimp briefly in that same pan — they want only ninety seconds to a side and no more — and remove them to rest.

Now the cherry sweetness does it all. Fold your boiled cherries and a spoonful of their crimson water into the marinara. Stir but once. Watch the sauce take on a blush at its edges. That is the sweetness arriving, and it will do the rest without your interference.

Introduce your shell pasta to the pan. Toss to coat — every shell must be filled. Return the shrimp. If the sauce holds too tight, a splash of the reserved pasta water will open it. You will find it requires very little adjustment, for the cherry has already made the necessary introductions between every other ingredient in the bowl. A pinch of sea salt. Cracked pepper if you like. Serve at once in a turquoise vessel — this is not optional.