Shrimp, Tomato, and Basil Pasta with Garlic Bread

This shrimp dish will be the last of the shrimp for a while. We usually have shrimp once a month. This shrimp-spree was to indulge my insane craving. I bought three pounds of them without even knowing for sure what I was going to do with them. Anyway, I know Rodney prefers shrimp to be prepared simply so the shrimpiness isn't masked. According to him last week, shrimp scampi has too much garlic and overrides the "shrimpiness".

Since I had my way with the shrimp the past couple days, I figured I'd do a recipe with Rodney in mind specifically. I went on a hunt for a shrimp linguine recipe that didn't require milk, scads of cheese or a "good" white wine. We don't drink wine and I'm not going to the store and buy a bottle just to use half a cup. And Rodney's lactose intolerant.

When I came across this recipe, I wasn't too sure if it would be too tomato saucy, but because it called for shrimp, linguine and fresh basil, I figured what the hell.

So, here's how I did the Shrimp, Tomato, and Basil Pasta:

• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails removed)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
• 2 small tomatoes, diced
• ½ pound linguine
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Season shrimp with salt and pepper.


In a large skillet, heat 4 teaspoons oil over high heat. Add shrimp; cook until opaque throughout, turning occasionally, 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.


Make sauce: To the same skillet, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and garlic; cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add canned tomatoes and their juice, along with 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have softened and are saucy, about 15 minutes.

Remove sauce from heat; stir in diced fresh tomatoes.


Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions.  Drain; return pasta to pot.

Add tomato sauce, shrimp, and basil to pasta and toss.


Serve immediately.

Garlic bread:

• French loaf
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• tsp. basil
• tsp. oregano

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Stir butter until smooth.
Add garlic, basil and oregano; mix thoroughly.
Split French loaf in half horizontally.
Spoon garlic butter evenly across the bread halves.


Bake on a baking sheet for 15 minutes.
Cut into serving portions.

So, there you have it: Shrimp, Tomato, and Basil Pasta with Garlic Bread, it's what's for dinner.

Definitely a winner, this pasta recipe, as well as the garlic bread. It was fast (prep to plate in less than an hour), simple, looked and tasted great. Rodney said it is worthy of two gold stars before he went for a second helping.

The original recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of shrimp, but with 1 lb, it definitely wasn't lacking. When I make this again, increasing the amount of basil is a must as its presence in the dish wasn't noticeable. The original recipe called for about 6 times what I used! Today I simply didn't have enough on hand. Also, I think I might increase the simmering time for the sauce or decrease the amount of added water as it was fairly soupy in the pot.

I was pretty pleased with how the garlic bread turned out. Since it was the second loaf of the French bread I'd made the other night and I didn't have a recipe to make garlic bread, it was iffy. The bread was soft while the crust was crisp. The seasonings weren't overpowering and the amount of butter was good. The only thing I noticed immediately is it could have used is a couple minutes under the broiler to improve appearance, but I was afraid I'd end up making it too crispy.

Cost:

• 1 lb medium shrimp: $6
• 2 small tomatoes: $1/lb
• linguine: $0.5/0.5 lb
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves: $2.29/2 oz.

If you had to buy everything to make this recipe, estimating what I paid for each whole component (entire 500 mL bottle of light olive oil though I used 6 tsp etc.), this would cost $40. For me, it cost roughly $12 to make this meal which yielded 4 servings (Rodney's 2, my 1 tonight and my lunch for tomorrow). I added in the $2 to include the cost of the staples. Not too bad!

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