food comas

The first time I made shrimp scampi pasta was with my friend Susie, and  I was amazed by how quick and easy this dish was to make!  We simply sautéd garlic and onions in butter, poured in half a bottle of 3 buck Chuck white wine, threw in some frozen shrimp and some spinach as well and voilà!  Frozen ingredients and cheap booze: Total college-style shrimp scampi pasta 🙂

My taste buds have matured a bit since then (if nothing else), and my shrimp scampi pasta has evolved to the current recipe below.  Most shrimp scampi recipes will stick to just butter, shrimp, garlic, white wine and will stop there… zZzzzZzz boring.  I love hearty and chunky pasta sauces with lots of STUFF; the more vegetables the better!  All the vegetables I used are optional of course, but they really add a lot of flavor and color to the dish!

Serve with a side of crusty Garlic Bread!

Shrimp Scampi with Linguine

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 16oz package uncooked linguine
• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced (I used 1/2 yellow and 1/2 red bell pepper = 1/2 C total)
• 1/2 C mushrooms, diced (white button or cremini mushrooms)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped (or substitute spinach)
• Pinch of red pepper chili flakes
• 1/4 C butter (or substitute margarine)
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• 2 C dry white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Asiago or Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 avocado, pitted and sliced (optional)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a dash of salt and your linguine pasta.  Cook 8-10 minutes until tender (or less for al dente) and drain.  TIP: Drizzle some EVOO over the drained pasta and toss to prevent the pasta from drying out and clumping together.  Set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, take a medium bowl and combine the shrimp with 1 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of cornstarch.  This is just to help the sauce thicken a bit when you add the shrimp, as well as to keep your shrimp moist as you prep the sauce!

In a large pot or wok, heat up 3 tbsp of EVOO.  Add the garlic and sauté until slightly golden.  Stir in the chopped onion, mushrooms, bell peppers and sauté until tender.

Mix in the tomatoes, half of the parsley, and a pinch of red pepper chili flakes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the butter, lemon juice, and white wine.  Let the alcohol simmer off for a minute or so, and then add your shrimp.  Shrimp cooks so quickly, so I always add it last so as to not overcook.

Once the shrimp turns pink, remove from heat.

Serve the shrimp scampi over the cooked linguine.  Sprinkle with cheese and garnish with remaining parsley.  Yum!

Optional: Top with avocado slices.  Avocado goes amazingly well with this dish — seriously, just try it!