Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Bow Ties

There a couple of little tricks to make a great shrimp and pasta dish. First, I always start with raw shrimp with the shells on. The frozen bags of shrimp come in an "easy peel" raw packaging and these are the ones I use. After gently thawing the shrimp, I peel the shrimp and make a stock of the peels by covering them with water and simmering them with parsley, a shallot and a couple of stalks of parsley. The second trick is to use the right cooking technique for the shrimp. The shrimp need to be as dry as possible. Then they should be cooked over high heat in small batches in a small amount of olive oil. If you are not careful to dry the shrimp and cook them quickly they will give off a lot of juice and will boil in their juices. This results in a rubbery and tough shrimp instead of the tender crisp shrimp you are looking for. The shrimp should be cooked on one side until slightly brown, turned over and cooked until just opaque.

With your perfectly cooked shrimp and stock, you can do all kinds of good things. For this dish, I made a sauce from tons of garlic (you can never use to much garlic in my opinion), shallots, stock, fresh lemon juice, crushed red pepper and butter. It tossed some bow tie pasta with the sauce, added the shrimp and served. It was very tasty.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Bow Ties

1 package frozen raw "quick peel" shrimp

water
1 shallot, halved
2 stalks of parsley
1 bay leaf
4 pepper corns
1/2 t. salt

2 T olive oil
2 shallots, diced
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 t crushed red pepper
3/4 cup shrimp stock
juice from two lemons
2 T butter

1 box fafalle (bow tie) pasta
1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water
2 T chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Thaw the shrimp according to the package directions.

Stock:
Peel shrimp and put peels in a small pot, cover with water, add the shallot, parsley, bay leaf, pepper and salt. Simmer for a half hour or so.

Saute shrimp in small batches in a small amount of olive oil per batch.

Sauce:
In the same pan as the shrimp were sauteed, cook the shallots in a bit of olive oil, then the garlic and crushed red pepper. Add the stock and reduce by half. Add the lemon juice and reduce by half again. Turn off heat and melt butter into the sauce.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan w/ 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Cook the pasta in the sauce until the pasta is coated with the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the shrimp and the parsley and toss together. Makes 4-5 cook size servings.

Enjoy!

Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!

Quick and Easy Pasta with Fresh Mozzerella, Tomatoes and Basil

My Dad had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, so I used them for supper tonight. I made a kind of a tomato bruschetta using tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar, garlic, shallots, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. Then I tossed in some steaming pasta, well chilled diced mozzarella and basil. It was great.

Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Basil

2 or 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
2/3 olive oil
1/4 red wine vinegar or lemon juice
1 minced shallot or about 1 T minced red onion
1 large clove of garlic, smashed
pinch of sugar
salt
pepper
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed and well chilled
1 lb medium size pasta (I used medium shells)
10 or so basil leaved, chiffonad

Mix tomatoes, olive oil, wine vinegar, shallots, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. After it has sat for about 10 minutes and tomatoes have given off some of their juice taste and adjust for flavor. Add a bit more sugar or acid depending on taste.

Boil pasta for 8-10 minutes. Drain, add to tomato mixture. Toss in well chilled mozzarella and basil leaves.

Serve with grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!

Quick and Delicious Tomato Sausage Pasta Sauce

I am not adverse to opening up a jar of good quality Pasta sauce from time to time. In fact a company that sells mostly in our New York metro area, Victoria, has a better vodka sauce than anything homemade I have tasted. That being said, it so easy to whip up a quick tomato sauce that unless I am really pressed for time I usually will throw something together. That is exactly what I did yesterday and I have a new favorite quick sauce. I wanted to do a meat sauce, but I only had large portions of ground beef in the freezer, but I did have a small package of sweet Italian sausage, so I took the sausage meat out of the casing and fried it up like ground beef. I then added it to the quick tomato sauce and the result was bellissimo. I have some left over that I am going to enjoy for lunch today.

Quick and Delicious Tomato Sausage Pasta Sauce

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic
1 medium carrot grated
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
1 t. fresh thyme
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage removed from the casing
salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Add the carrots, tomatoes and thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Brown the sausage meat, drain of excess fat and crumble the meat. Add to the tomato sauce. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta with grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Tortellini with Turkey, Tomatoes and Brocolli

I needed something quick and easy last night so I made this dish. I don't usually use prepared foods, but I did last night to save time and because the prepared Perdue Turkey Breast was on sale. I adapted the recipe from one that was on the package. It turned out really good. My vegetarian son is home from college for the summer so I was able to scoop out a serving of the pasta and veggies before adding the meat.

1 package Perdue Shortcuts Turkey Breast
1 lb. bag of cheese tortellini
2 T. olive oil
2 heads of broccoli cut into florets (about 1 lb)
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of tomatoes drained and diced.
about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. butter
salt and pepper

Prepare the tortellini in boiling water. Be sure not to overcook.

Heat olive in skillet. Add the broccoli and cook until bright green. Add the garlic and cook, but do not allow it to brown. Add the tomatoes and the pasta cooking water. Cover and cook until broccoli is almost tender. Remove cover and add the tortellini. Continue cooking until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the cheese and the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the turkey and heat through just before serving.

Enjoy