Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp

What’s your go-to quick midweek meal? Mine often involves angel hair pasta, because it cooks in only 3 minutes. My other standby is shrimp, which also cooks almost as fast.
In this Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp we are using both, and tossing them with quickly cooked fresh tomatoes (that’s the “pomodoro” part), garlic, and basil. You could use canned tomatoes, but if tomatoes are in season, and they are ripe and juicy, you can use them with hardly any extra time.
September is peak tomato season here in Sacramento, even more than August. Our tomatoes are all ripening at once, catching the last rays of sunshine before we slip into fall. They’re sweet and ripe, perfect for using for a quick pasta dish like this one.

Fresh tomatoes do require peeling which you can easily accomplish by scoring them and blanching them in boiling water. Our trick for saving time? Since you’re already boiling water for the pasta, you can use that water for a minute to blanch the tomatoes, before cooking the pasta.

Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp Recipe

 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 3 to 4

To safely defrost frozen shrimp, place in a bowl of ice water.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound angel hair pasta
• 3/4 pound raw, peeled, deveined shrimp (medium sized)
• 4 medium ripe tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (divided, 1 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp)
• Salt
• Pepper

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Pasta with Cauliflower, Tomato, and Parmesan

Move over kale, cauliflower is now the “it girl” these days. There are just so many wonderful dishes you can make with it! This simple pasta with cauliflower, tomato, and Parmesan is a great example. I’ve adapted the recipe from a Sicilian recipe by Vincent Schiavelli that appeared years ago in Saveur.
It’s outrageously good; I’ve been eating the leftovers for days, which just seem to get better as the flavors have more time to meld.
The secret ingredient?

Anchovies.
Okay, so I’m weird. I’m one of those people to whom you can say “cauliflower” and “anchovies” and I’ll start salivating. I’ll take cauliflower any which way (though IMHO roasted is best) and anchovies?
Well anchovies are one childhood prejudice (“hold the anchovies!”) I’ve happily outgrown. (Thankfully, along with my childhood anti-opera and country music sentiments, too. What is it with kids not liking things before they’ve ever tried them?)
No, the anchovies will not make this dish taste like fish. They will however give it an indescribable savoriness (umami) that will make you want to eat the whole bowl.

Pasta with Cauliflower, Tomato, and Parmesan Recipe

 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Yield: Serves 4

 

Variations to this recipe include adding some toasted pinenuts or walnuts, a few raisins, and or some saffron.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs*
• 6 Tbsp olive oil, divided 2 and 4 Tbsp
• 1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 Tbsp anchovies packed in oil, minced (about 6 anchovies)
• 1 large head of cauliflower, core removed and discarded, florets coarsely chopped (see How to Cut and Core Cauliflower)
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 pound small elbow macaroni
• 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes, chopped, or diced tomatoes, including juice
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

* To make breadcrumbs, chop up about 3 slices of day old bread. Pulse in blender or food processor until you have small crumbs.

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