Monday, August 18, 2008

Adventures with shrimp... continued


Some of my previous attempts with shrimp didn't turn out so well. Finally, I think I found an easy, no fail, amazing dish! This was seriously SO good. And it being a Cooking Light recipe, it's a win-win! The sauce was simple and perfect. As far as homemade sauce goes, this is now my go-to recipe, whether or not I make shrimp with it. I love spicy food, so an arrabbiata is only fitting. And I've had shrimp arrabbiata from different restaurants and I must say that this tops them all.

I'm going to post the recipe as stated, but if making this dish for 4 servings, I would definitely double the sauce - no ifs, ands or buts about it. I made the sauce as follows and used only a 1/2 pound of shrimp. Also, the beauty of this dish is that you can lessen the amount of oil easily, thus omitting more fat. I served this with Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta.

SHRIMP ARRABBIATA
Source: Cooking Light, March 2006, David Bonom

6 ounces fresh linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup prechopped onion
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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1. Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

3. Sprinkle shrimp with salt; add shrimp to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp to a bowl.

4. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan. Add onion, minced garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute.

5. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or just until sauce begins to thicken.

6. Return shrimp to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.

7. Add parsley to the pan, stirring well to combine. Serve over pasta.