Shrimp-licious

Shrimp Marinara

If you’ve never made a slow-simmered stew, soup, or sauce before, winter’s the time to try one — you’ll love having the occasional excuse to stand next to the warm stove and stir.  And not only is pasta/pizza sauce one of the easiest things to make, it freezes beautifully should you have lots of leftovers.  (It’s worth making a big batch because you can just add one or two things when you reheat it to make an entirely different dish:  in the case of marinara, stir in a bit of cream to make a palmino sauce, or try adding meat for bolognese, spinach for florentine, a generous heaping of mixed cheeses for quattro formaggi, shrimp for seafood marinara, etc.)  Plus, because you can let the sauce simmer from anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour — the longer it simmers, the deeper its flavor will become — you’ll have plenty of time to taste and adjust as you go.

Shrimp Marinara

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced into thin rounds
1-2 T. butter or ghee
15-oz. can of diced tomatoes or 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 oz. tomato paste
2 tsp. mixed dried Italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage)
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne (optional)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1-2 T. anchovy paste (optional, but this will provide that rich umami background to deepen the already-umami-rich tomatoes)
1/2 lb. fresh or frozen shrimp or langoustines, thawed, cleaned, and peeled

Sautée onions and butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn golden. Turn heat down to low and continue to cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes more to give the onions a chance to caramelize. Add garlic and cook for another 5 minutes on low heat until garlic has softened and is fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, pepper, vinegar, and anchovy paste and let simmer on low heat for at least 20 minutes. (You can use this time to make pasta, toast bread, toss a salad, bake or stir fry meat, or arrange whatever else you’d like to serve alongside the marinara.)

Right before serving, sautée shrimp in additional butter over medium heat for about three minutes or until they are completely opaque and starting to curl, flipping halfway through the process to cook both sides evenly. Gently stir shrimp into sauce and pasta, or combine sauce and pasta and then top the dish with the shrimp. Serve piping hot.

Enjoy!