Pasta with Peas and Shrimp

By John, 1 September, 2020
Region
Italy
Description

Pasta with Peas and ShrimpThis is one of those homey recipes that can be great for kids but that is also easy to dress up for company. 

When I was a kid, my mom used to put peas in everything, I suppose as a way to get us to eat a green vegetable. To this day I am still suspicious when I see a perfectly good dinner with peas lurking inside... But this really is a good recipe. 

This is also traditionally made with salmon, and of course salmon and peas are a famous combination, but  it takes a little more care to cube the salmon and cook it without breaking it all to pieces, so I like this version for a weekday night.

Yield
2 Servings
Preparation time
30 minutes
Ingredients
12 oz Large Shrimp
1 clv Garlic (crushed)
4 T Butter (Unsalted)
10 oz Frozen Peas
1 T parsley (chopped)
1⁄2 Lemon, juice of
12 oz Short Pasta (like shells, penne, or ziti)
Instructions
  1. Put on the pasta water to boil
  2. Shell the shrimp, then saute them in the butter with the garlic clove.
  3. When the pasta water is at a rolling boil, cook the peas for 4-5 minutes (see Notes), until tender. Then strain them out and put them in the skillet with the shrimp. Add the parsley and remove the garlic. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
  4. Cook the pasta.
  5. Drain the pasta and put it in a big bowl.
  6. Pick the shrimp out of the sauce and put them in a small bowl.
  7. Put the rest of the sauce with the peas in the big bowl with the pasta. Squeeze in the lemon juice and toss well.
  8. Transfer the pasta to a serving platter and garnish with the shrimp. Serve hot.
Notes
Peas: You can cook the peas separately in a smaller pan or in the microwave, but if you have a colander or a chinoise that fits in your pasta pot, you can cook them in that. The Deluxe Version: In the photo above, you can see that I included some mussels. Nothing could be simpler! Just add the mussels when you cook the shrimp and treat them the same way.
Source
The New Italian Cooking, Margaret and G. Franco Romagnoli