Recipe Exchange - Shrimp and Pasta

For the most recent recipe exchange, Keepin' it Real, I was given Shrimp and Pasta. This recipe exchange was all about using staples, a fast-and-easy kind of thing. At first glance, it seems pretty simple, but I was a little confused by the instructions! Don't worry recipe-writer, it's the operator, not the machine!

Shrimp and Pasta
(total cook time, 20-30 minutes, most ingredients on hand)

Ingredients:
1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp (thawed)
olive oil
cooking spray (olive oil, preferably)
crushed red pepper flakes (at least 1 tsp, more if you like heat)
fresh ground black pepper
salt-free seasoning
6-7 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped, divided
2 shallots, finely chopped, divided
wine (drinking or cooking) I used white wine
angel hair pasta

1. cook pasta according to package directions (I halved the recipe)
2. In a dish place about a tbsp of olive oil and crushed red pepper flakes. Pat shrimp dry and place in dish. "Salt" and pepper shrimp and toss to coat with olive oil and red pepper flakes.
3. spray a skillet liberally with cooking spray and add about a tbsp of olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add just a small amount of garlic, onion, and shallot to pan and cook until just soft, less than 2 minutes. Add shrimp to pan and spray with more cooking spray.
3.cook shrimp, not stirring too often. When shrimp are about halfway done, add the rest of the first half of garlic, shallot, and shrimp (think they meant onion) (the other half will go in the pasta). Cook shrimp to desired doneness, trying to get a little bit of crisp on it (times wil vary). When shrimp is done, remove from pan, set aside and cover.
4. Add just enough wine to skillet to deglaze the pan. Once wine has almost evaporated, add about a tbsp of olive oil and the rest of the garlic, onion, and shallot. Saute until soft, about 2 minutes.
5. Add cooked and drained pasta to skillet and toss to coat.
6. Serve shrimp over the pasta.



Survey says:
HUBS LOVED IT. He loved it. I think it was cause I halved the recipe but OD'd on garlic and pepper. I was not as impressed, but I think since he loved it so much I'll add it to the repertoire! Thanks recipe exchange!!

**sidenote: I just want to let you all know... I peeled and deveined those babies! yes, got fresh shrimp right before dinner and did the dirty work myself. I told hubs afterward, and he was like, why didn't you just get frozen shrimp? BECAUSE... if I have the availability of shrimpies that are fresh I'll take those. for a regular weeknight dinner, I'd probably get the frozen ones. But I'd never done fresh shrimp before so now I can say I have!

Baby Shrimp Scampi and Angel Hair Pasta

Dinner last night was an oldie but goodie, a RR recipe from a while ago. As usual, I tweaked the recipe to fit my tastes and what I have in the kitchen at the time. Hubs mentioned after sitting down to eat that we should have had garlic bread or something, to which I replied, you have enough starch on that plate!! Somehow angel hair pasta always seems to make more than one pound. One of life's great mysteries.

Recipe:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 large shallot, finely chopped (left this out, didn't have it)
1 lemon, zested (forgot a lemon at the store too)
1/3 pound baby shrimp, 300 count
1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine, eyeball it
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1/3 pound angel hair pasta, cooked to al dente
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped or snipped fresh chives (I laugh in the face of garnish)

Get your pasta water going. Start the scampi sauce when you drop your pasta into boiling water to cook.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and melt the butter into it. Add shallots and cook a minute or 2, stirring constantly. Add lemon zest and shrimp and heat shrimp through, another minute or two. Add vermouth or wine and tomatoes. Toss another minute to heat the tomatoes through. Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat evenly in sauce and to distribute the shrimp. Season liberally with salt and pepper and serve with chives to garnish.

I actually garnished with some Fontinella cheese, sooooo good on top of pastas. Now I'm gonna have to find something to use it for though as I have tons of it left!