The past week-end was quite a treat. I had company. Got a few unexpected in numbers. What was I going do? When you have waiting palates to feed and satisfy, you find a way to make what you have stretch. Moreover, I was quite a bit weary from the ‘grave yard’ shift I pulled the previous night.
Of course, time was of the essence; so, I had to pull something ‘magical’ out of the box to feed my guests. I wanted a dish that was easy, delicious and satiating. After a visit to my pantry and refrigerator, I came up with an ideal dish. It was an Italian one that consisted of linguine pasta, grilled shrimp (shrimp I bought the previous day) and yellow squash, roasted tomatoes, and other ingredients.Pasta was cooked al dente and set aside with a little extra water on hand in case I needed same to stretch my sauce.
On my stove top, thanks to my handy grill pan, I grilled my yellow squash. These were sliced at an angle in rectangular shape,brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Then they were then placed on the grill for cooking.
As soon as squash was cooked I added shrimp. These were drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt, black pepper, sprinkle of paprika, grated onion and crushed garlic. All seasoning was removed and then they were placed and grill pan and cooked for approximately two minutes per side. And because I know that seafood loves acid, I squeezed a little fresh lemon on shrimp. That move bumped up the flavors big time.
In a hot skillet, a drizzle of olive oil was added. To that, roughly onions, celery, bell peppers, finely chopped jalapeno were sautéed and seasoned with pinch of salt, black pepper. I had a little left-over white wine and I added same to skillet with a sprinkle of corn starch for thickening.
After simmering and thickening of sauce on low heat, pasta was added along with residual liquid. I also did a quick roasting of a few vine ripe and plummy tomatoes.
Those were added after cutting them in smaller sizes. Also, grilled yellow squash,finely chopped jalapeno, and shrimp were cut in smaller bites and then tossed in along with bits of olives for extra flavor. All ingredients were folded and served with freshly chopped parsley.
Linguine pasta and shrimp dish was a huge hit. The spicy and slightly salty combination married very well. The flavors and portions hit the spot for everyone. We were satiated and super-happy.