seven salts

"Date Night" Shrimp Pasta - Linguini with Shrimp, Shallots and Roasted Tomatoes

Our kids were complaining one Friday night that they never got anything good when Chessa and I went out on our date night. We had some frozen shrimp in the freezer and some pasta in the pantry so I threw a few things together and we came up with "Date Night Shrimp Pasta". You can have this dish ready in about 15 minutes. The most time consuming part is just prepping the tomatoes.

Ingredients
1/2 bag frozen shrimp (pre-cooked costco shrimp. I normally get 21/25's but I think that we used smaller ones in the picture above).
Few Roma Tomatoes (seeded and cut into diamonds)
3 cloves of garlic
2-3 shallots finely diced
jalapeno (seeded and finely chopped)
Olive Oil
Flat Leaf Parsley
Shaved Parmesan
(whatever other vegetable you want to add or none at all)
Choice of Pasta (I like angle hair or linguini)

Cook what ever pasta you plan on using according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking do the following:

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan (I have a 14" chef's pan that's really easy to use for this recipe), and chuck in the shallots, garlic and jalapenos and saute for a few minutes until they're softened. I then add 1/2 the tomatoes and cook for another 1-2 minutes. (this will soften the tomatoes and will start to create the base of your sauce as they begin to release their juices). Add your frozen shrimp and toss to coat. As the shrimp cooks (or thaws as they are already pre-cooked), they'll release a lot of liquid. This is great as it will mix with the shallots, garlic and tomatoes creating the sauce that will coat your pasta. Continue tossing until the shrimp are hot all the way through. Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Once your pasta is done, drain and return to the pan you cooked it in. Pour all of your shrimp/shallots/tomatoes/garlic over the top, add the rest of your tomato diamonds, and toss in your chopped parsley. Toss everything to coat the pasta in those great pan juices and to distribute all the ingredients. Plate the pasta in nice tall mounds in the center of a warm dinner plate, shave some fresh parmesan over the top and you're done. Your kids will love you for this one....

(Left overs are a favorite for Brennan in his school lunch the next day). You really can knock this one out in about 15-20 minutes. I think that the entire dish costs about $12 total to make... Much better than a bowl of mac-n-cheese and chicken dinos....