This recipe came to me in a dream. Well, in a daze to be more exact.
When I got off work yesterday I was tired, and hungry, and my brain felt mushy. I went home, stripped down to my skivvies and crawled into bed for a few moments of respite. In my semiconscious state I started thinking about dinner. What did I have in the house to eat? (Not much.) Did I want chicken, again? (No, I’m sick of chicken.) And then…what about shrimp?… with pasta?… and vegetables… and maybe I can throw in the last of that champagne left over from New Year’s Eve… and some mushrooms, and garlic, and butter, Oh My!
And then I moaned at the realization that I’d have to get up, get dressed and go to the grocery store to make this food fantasy a reality.(“Get out of my dreams, get into my car…” Name that tune!)
About 30 minutes later I returned from the local “Taj Ma Teeter” with my supplies in tow. I even bought the skinny carrots with the greens still attached. I felt like such a foodie standing the self check-out line with all of my fresh veggies (in BYO Bags of course!), fresh shrimp, and bottle of white wine. The only thing that was missing was a baguette sticking out of the top of my basket!
With a recipe like this, you can make it your own. I was really craving snow peas, but the HT was out, so I bought broccoli instead. Don’t have shallots? Use a small onion. No left-over New Year’s Eve champagne? (Ha.) White wine will do. Heck, if you don’t like shrimp, dice-up some chicken breast. But the bacon is a must.
– 1 lb peeled, de-veined, raw shrimp (support NC shrimpers and buy trawl caught!)
-1/2lb (1/2 box) linguine
-1 medium shallot, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, chopped
-1 crown broccoli, cut up
-2 small carrots (or one large), sliced into strips
-2 cups sliced brown cremini mushrooms
-3-4 sliced of bacon, cooked crispy, diced
-1 cup dry white wine (or left-over champagne…)
-1 tablespoon butter
-grated pecorino romano cheese
-olive oil
-shake Italian seasoning
Start water for pasta, by the time everything else is ready, your pasta will be too. Here’s a neat energy saving trick that really works. Bring water to a boil and add pasta. Return water to a boil and cover pot with a lid. Then… hold on to your oven mitts… turn the burner off. Set timer for 12 minutes, or however long your pasta takes to cook, and don’t peak under the lid! When the timer goes off, your pasta will be perfectly cooked al dente. Try it and be amazed.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When it starts to bubble, add shallots. Cook until softened and just starting to caramelize. Be careful not to burn.
Add carrots and broccoli, steaming until tender (about 3 -5 minutes). Stir often to prevent the shallots from burning.
Add mushrooms and champagne/wine and cover. When mushrooms are soft, add shrimp and garlic and mix with veggies. Shrimp cooks in about 3 minutes; be careful not to overcook.
About this time your pasta should be done. Pour about 1/2-1 cup of pasta water into your pan; drain the rest. Add pasta to pan with shrimp and veggies, drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, shake Italian seasoning (don’t over-do it!) and toss. The additional liquid should steam off in bout a minute or so.
Plate your pasta, sprinkle with bacon and pecorino romano, and serve!
This dish goes quite well with my new favourite wine (available at the Bestway), Tamas Estates Pinot Gregio. (You can actually see the bottle in the background of the photo above, and in the Chicken Marsala photo.)
Here’s your food-term history lesson for the day: primavera and carbonara.
MANGIA!
ps… a special shout-out to my friend E— how ’bout that “crazy daisy” Corelle plate?!
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By Ginger-Shallott Cod | theCrackerBoxKitchen 16 June, 2011 at 8:45 AM