Positano, definitely one of our favorite places on earth!
The theme for our annual staff dinner this year was "Food and Wine from Our Favorite Places on Earth" so you know that the Amalfi Coast had to be represented. I found this great recipe from Mario Batali that he took from a restaurant in Atrani that overlooks the sea called "da Zaccaria". However, I had a lot of shrimp so I served it in individual bowls with toasted bread instead of as bruschetta. And of course we paired it with a local wine and the 2012 Taburno Greco Benveneto was truly fantastic!
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 ounces Limoncello
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 slices of Italian bread
1 bunch chives, chopped
Salt and pepper
Pour the oil into a large saute pan over high heat. When just starting to smoke, toss in the garlic. Cook until it turns light brown. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, flip, and cook for 1 minute. Remove the shrimp.
Pour in the the limoncello, lemon juice, and wine. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Toast the bread. When sauce is done, turn off the heat, sprinkle in the chives and season with salt and pepper. Place a few shrimp atop each piece of bread, and top with the sauce and lemon zest.
Saturday evenings in the summertime are usually spent at home. Knowing we had a 50+ mile ride planned for Sunday, I had the perfect excuse to make a pasta dish, surprise, surprise. But I wanted to keep it light, no heavy cream sauces or meat, and I wanted to keep it simple, not too much fuss or mess. So Gulf shrimp are a given, and with our extremely hot summer temperatures, I enjoy making sauces and pestos that don't require cooking. And Kerry's abundance of fresh herbs in the garden offers me lots of possibilities.
I made the dreaded run to Whole Foods on a Saturday for supplies, me and 5,000 other people, and was happy to see a huge table of heirloom tomatoes at the shocking price of $3.99/lb. So I load up with a those, some kale and lots of other stuff to get us through the week, and drove home to get started.
I picked up the tomatoes for a sauce I wanted to make that sort of reminds of a cross between the Sicilian Pasta Trapanese, that I adore, and an herb pesto. Based on a similar recipe from the Sicilian island of Pantelleria by Mario Batali, this one uses fresh tomatoes as the base with a mixture of 3 different herbs, spices and olive oil, no cooking required except for the pasta and shrimp of course!. It is delightfully refreshing and the addition of mint to the herb mixture gives it a different spin. You'll have some leftover that you can use the next day and serve over fish, toss with steamed veggies or whatever else you come up with! I served this with my sauteed kale recipe and the deliciously fresh Vitiano Rosato from Umbria, but sadly only 1 glass since we had to ride the next day...oh well, there's always tonight!
Serves 2
Ingredients
* 3/4 lb. fresh Gulf Shrimp, shelled and de-veined
* Olive oil, salt, pepper
Sauce
* 1/2 cup mint leaves
* 1/2 cup basil leaves
* 1/2 cup parsley leaves
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 tablespoons capers, drained
* 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
* 1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 1/2 pound fettuccine (when I don't have time to make my own, or buy it from Chef Dan, we use the Bionaturae brand and are especially fond of the tagliatelle)
Directions
Bring 4 quarts water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
Quickly saute shrimp in a little olive oil until just barely pink. Season with a touch of salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside, reserving the pan (it should be fairly large) and oil for later.
In a blender or food processor, mix mint, basil, parsley, garlic, capers, tomatoes, black and red pepper and extra virgin olive oil to form smooth paste. If needed, add a little more olive oil. The color is a little odd, but it tastes amazing!
Cook fettuccine according to package instructions until al dente and drain well.
Heat up your shrimp pan again to medium heat and put the lightly cooked shrimp back in the pan. Add the drained pasta, stirring to coat it with the oil and shrimp, and cook for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat, add the fresh tomato pesto and toss together until well mixed.
Serve immediately, garnished with fresh basil ribbons and a little grated Grana Padano cheese.
Our trips to the beach with our friends R&T always involve shared cooking responsibilities with each couple taking their turns at creating fabulous meals. After a day on the beach, we all look forward to our evening cocktail hour (or two...) while one pair relaxes and the other takes over the kitchen and we all chat and gossip, trying not to delve into anything too serious. We all marvel at the incredible food we eat on these trips and how lucky we are to share this time together. I usually don't want to work too much while we are there, but I did do a better job at documenting what we ate and how we prepared things so this week I will share our main meal, Kerry's Zucchini Salad and next week R's.
I knew I wanted to cook something with 2 of my favorite ingredients, fresh gulf shrimp and, of course, pasta. There's a great little family owned seafood place on highway 180 heading to Fort Morgan called Fresh Market Seafood that we buy our shrimp and fish at every time we come so we picked up a few pounds of shrimp and got to work.
I'd been thinking about this dish for awhile as we've had a big package of bucatini in the pantry for a few weeks just waiting for the right opportunity to use it. Bucatini is one of my favorite dried pastas as I love the texture and way it really soaks up the sauce. It is popular in southern Italy especially in Lazio where the famous Roman dish, Bucatini alla Matriciana, originated. My version of the Roman classic, which mixes the pasta with a light sauce of tomato, pancetta and red pepper flakes, is the base for this recipe with the fresh shrimp adding a Gulf coast twist.
As for the wine we drank, I needed another excuse to open up a bottle of the 2007 Pietradolce Etna Rosso which went wonderfully with the meal.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients: 1 pound of Bucatini 1/4 pound of pancetta sliced in 1" pieces 1/4 c. white wine 2 lbs head on, fresh gulf shrimp Medium shallot, diced 3 cloves of minced garlic 1 (28) ounce can of whole San Marzano plum tomatoes, diced 3 tablespoon of olive oil Torn fresh basil leaves 1/2 t. pepperoncini (hot pepper flakes) Bread crumbs (if needed to thicken sauce) Grated fresh Pecorino
Directions:
Fill a 10-quart saucepan with water over high heat for the pasta. Add the pasta during the last 10 minutes of the preparation process to the boiling water.
Prep shrimp by peeling, leave on tails, removing the heads and deveining, rinse and pat dry.
Pre-heat a saucepan to medium heat with 1 T. of olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté until the bacon is browned but not crispy (3-4 minutes). Quickly add the shrimp and the wine and saute for a minute or two, just until shrimp begin to turn pink. Do not fully cook them at this time.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon and shrimp and set aside on a plate. Add the a little more oil to the pan, heat and then add the onion and garlic and lightly fry for a few minutes until translucent. Add the tomatoes, basil, and hot pepper flakes and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Add in the shrimp and pancetta and simmer for a few more minutes, but be careful not to overcook the shrimp.
Combine the al dente pasta with the saucepan ingredients and simmer for a few more minutes, adding a little bread crumbs if you need to thicken the sauce. Transfer the completed dish to a large serving bowl. Top with pecorino cheese.
...offering tidbits of information on interesting discoveries in the food and wine scene of New Orleans.
Hal Wallace, Owner and Fisherman
Alabama Gulf Coast Shrimp - While we were at the beach last weekend I knew I wanted to cook something with 2 of my favorite ingredients, fresh gulf shrimp and, of course, pasta. There's a great little family owned seafood place on highway 180 heading to Fort Morgan called Fresh Market Seafood. Most of their products are fresh off the boat daily as they are a family of fishermen that have been fishing these same waters since the 1860's.
The Wallace family is one of the oldest families in the area. It was the Wallace's who founded the Lagoon fishing village in 1861 located just a few miles from the market. They've been local area fishermen and shrimpers for generations. Current owner, Hal Wallace, his Father, Johnny and several cousins catch the bulk of the shrimp sold at Fresh Market Seafood.
They have 2 locations, one in Foley and the one we visit on highway 180 and I highly recommend them on your next visit to the Gulf Coast beaches.
