This will serve 4. 3 crushed/chopped cloves of garlic, sauteed in 2 teas. of olive oil. As they all say, don't let the garlic burn. Add a pinch of hot dried red pepper flakes. When the garlic is sufficiently cooked (not more than 10 minutes) add the juice of 1 can of Tuttorosso whole tomatoes in juice. Adjust the heat so that will start to boil. Add a 1/4 cup of chopped sweet onion and the canned tomatoes that you have squished with your hands. The pot will stop boiling...so let it get up to a good heat one more time before turning it down to simmer. You can add dried or fresh basil if you like. After the onions have softened, you've pretty much got your sauce. There are 2 things you can do now. As is, you can add raw or frozen shrimp, or previously cooked shrimp (but the latter will not flavor the sauce) continue to simmer until shrimp are cooked or heated. Serve over pasta. I like a half/half thin spaghetti (regular) and thin spaghetti whole wheat. The thin spaghetti blends well together and is easiest to measure in a cup. I would give everyone 1/2 cup of pasta and at least 6 shrimp.
Alternatively, the same sauce recipe for pasta fagioli - but add a teaspoon of granulated chicken boullion and a small can of white or navy beans and 2 cups of cooked ditalini pasta (smaller than elbows) or, in a pinch, elbows. Also, because the pasta sucks up a lot of the tomato "sauce" add a 1/2 cup of hot water, or pasta water to the entire pot. Lastly, 1 pat of butter stirred into the whole pot. It gives it just enough buttery taste to bring out the creaminess of the beans. This isn't a dish you want to let sit; you want to serve it right away because the pasta will dry up all the juice. If it is going to sit, strain everything out of the juice and then recombine them before serving.
To the pasta fagioli, if you wanted it with escarole, you would add 1/2 head of chopped escarole AT THE BEGINNING when you cook the garlic. As a matter of fact, if you add the escarole, take away 1 tsp. of olive oil and put a lid over the escarole, 1 tsp. of olive oil and the garlic. The escarole will sweat under the lid, assisting the cooking of the garlic. Then, you just follow the pasta and beans recipe.
Lastly, you could add to the pasta fagioli, after it is done, some steamed broccoli florets. Just blanch them first, and let them simmer in the pot for about 2 minutes to suck up some of the juice.
I love pasta. Can you tell? However, when you've got all that other good stuff going on, the pasta goes a long way!
I have also added fresh steamed open clams to the finished product with the shrimp. The clams, you just add to boiling water and allow them to open up themselves, then add them to the sauce with the shrimp and serve in the shell. The smallest clams you can find, and generally 3 per person.
Last edited by 124chicksinger; 08-12-2011 at 10:38 PM.
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