a much welcome meal after eating seemingly-endless leftovers for a week. everyone ate it up!
shrimp scampi pasta
makes 6 servings
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb peeled and deveined raw shrimp
4 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 red bell pepper, finely sliced and chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp dried hot red-pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb pasta noodles (linguine, spaghetti or fettucine)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan (optional)
Boil water for pasta in a 6-8 quart pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Then saute shrimp, turning over once, until just cooked through, about 2 mins and transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
Add garlic to remaining oil in skillet and saute for 1 min, or until fragrant. Add in red bell peppers and saute for a few mins, until almost tender. Add wine, salt and pepper and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add butter to skillet, stirring until melted and stir in shrimp. Remove skillet from heat.
Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander. Toss pasta well with shrimp mixture, parsley and half of parmesan cheese Add some of the reserved cooking water if necessary to thicken the sauce.
