I think its such a great idea to try to do at least a couple meatless meals a week. I figure there has to be a few people out there like me that are looking to make healthier choices for themselves and their families, so why not start with something as simple as this! This is a super simple but a wonderfully flavorful dish, Shrimp with a Fresh Plum Tomato Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta..  Yes its okay to start drooling now! 

 

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have everything in place when cooking a shrimp dish, they cook FAST so you need to have everything ready to go… this is known as Mise en Place. So have everything chopped that needs to be chopped, cleaned that needs to be cleaned, sliced that needs to be sliced.

1 lb slightly undercooked angel hair pasta, tossed with olive oil (reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water)

8 plum tomatoes, small dice

4 or 5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp, rinsed off and paper towel blot dried

1 cup white wine

2 big handfuls fresh basil, sliced

juice from 1 lemon

olive oil

Allow shrimp to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes prior to cooking, this ensures that the oil temperature will not drop drastically due to cold shrimp. Season the shrimp lightly with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, over high heat, add enough oil to coat bottom and sauté shrimp (in batches) 1 minute per side. You do not want to overcrowd the skillet because the temperature of the oil will drop too much. The pan should be nice and hot so the shrimp get nice color quickly. Remove the shrimp and set aside in a large serving bowl.

Lower the heat to medium and again coat the pan with oil. Add in garlic, tomatoes and lemon, again season with salt and pepper, and sauté for a few minutes, until the tomatoes are just slightly softened. Add in white wine and allow to simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the alcohol is burned off.

Toss in the pasta, a few drizzles of olive oil and enough of the reserved pasta water to create a light sauce. The pasta will soak up some of the liquid as it cooks the rest of the way. Once the pasta is cooked to al dente, should only take a few minutes, add the shrimp back in as well as the basil (I didn’t have enough basil when I made it thus the lack of beautiful basil in the photo). Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. This Fresh Plum Tomato Sauce Shrimp & Angel Hair Pasta is going to be a family favorite for sure!