Off-Campus Kitchen: Pasta with shrimp and clam sauce
I think we can all agree that it’s finally sundress season again, and anticipating summer puts me in the mood for seafood. But despite the deliciousness of the giant slab of salmon a friend of mine smoked and barbequed last weekend, good quality, sustainably sourced fish can get expensive.
My answer is to serve seafood over pasta, as I’ve covered before with mussels. The following recipe is adapted from one of my mother’s staple summer dishes, pasta with clam sauce. In my variation, I’ve toned down the amount of wine and lemon juice (because I don’t love sour things) and added shrimp for the sake of variety. It’s as close as I can get for now to breathing in fresh ocean air.
1 pound pasta — I like egg pappardelle
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic
1 shallot or 1/2 yellow onion
1 can minced clams — do not drain!
1/3 cup precooked frozen salad shrimp
3 tablespoons white wine (or lemon juice)
1 bunch fresh parsley (I prefer flat leaf, because it has more flavor)
Grated Parmesan
1. Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat. Mince garlic and shallot or onion; saute in butter until shallot/onion is translucent.
2. Add shrimp without defrosting them first. As the shrimp defrost in the pan, they will release flavorful juices that are good for your sauce. Add wine. After about 6 minutes, when the shrimp is tender, add clams with their juice from the can. Simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce (boil off).
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. Don’t salt it — the sauce will provide enough.
4. Chop the leafy bits of the parsley into smaller pieces; discard the stems.
5. When the sauce has reduced by one third and the shrimp are hot, remove the pan from the heat. Serve sauce over pasta and top with parsley and grated Parmesan.
Serves two.