Search This Blog

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

[Sweet pea & shrimp pasta] A wonderfully easy and quick dinner in 15 minutes


A few weeks ago, Remi and Mr. D went to a local supermarket for a quick grocery shopping, from which Remi brought a recipe card and presented to me as an "ordinary-day present." :) 

It was a Jamie Oliver's pasta recipe~ Remi knows well that I love Jamie Oliver's recipes especially because his recipes don't disappoint. They usually turn out great and this quick sweet pea & shrimp pasta was not an exception. I had all the needed ingredients well resting in my not-so-big freezer. Hooray. I can free some room in my freezer by making this pasta! We all love pasta and pasta is, surprisingly, the main carbohydrate of my household. Remi's ordinary-day present turned out to be an extraordinary one! :) Jamie Oliver named this pasta Jools' sweet pea & shrimp pasta shells. So I'm not sure whether it's Jamie's recipe or his wife's. It doesn't matter (why would it as far as it tastes great! :))


I find this recipe great mainly because of two reasons. First, you can make it without any extra grocery shopping.  You must have frozen cooked shrimps and peas waiting for you somewhere in your freezer. Second, you can make it in 15 minutes from start to finish. We all need such quick items for a busy weekday dinner, don't we? In that sense, you wouldn't find many real food that can be prepared as quickly as this pasta. :) And the best thing about this dish is that it's amazingly tasty.

The only adjustment I made was the replacement of red chili with sweet chili since Pablo cannot anything spicier than a dill pickle :( OMG, I didn't expect this effect, but a small sweet chili gave a fantastic flavour to the recipe. You should definitely sautée sliced sweet chili before adding other ingredients!

Here goes the recipe.


Ingredients
(serves 4)

11 oz (330g) dried pasta shells
4 cloves garlic
1 fresh sweet red chili
olive oil
7 oz (200g) frozen peeled cooked shirmp
1 + 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 oz (30g)) Parmesan cheese (optional)
 Reserve 1 Cup of pasta cooking water (optional)

Directions


1. Cook the pasta in a large boiling salted water to al dente, according to package instructions.


2. Meanwhile, peel and slice garlic cloves, and slice red sweet chili thin.


3. heat olive oil in the frying pan, and then, add garlic and sweet chili sliced on a medium heat.


4. Fry until lightly golden brown, then add shrimp, peas and tomato paste.

Then add some boiling cooking pasta water from the pasta pan, and simmer slowly until the pasta is ready.

5. Once cooked, drain pasta.


6. Season the sauce, then toss with the pasta.


7. Grate over the Parmesan cheese, if desired.


Divide between the bowls and serve!

It looks simple, doesn't it? It's a truly simple, but delicious pasta!
I already know that this recipe will live long in my kitchen! :)

Enjoy.

Jools' Sweet Pea & Shrimp Pasta Shells