Every trip to the beach for us means doing something with fresh seafood. And of course big, beautiful Gulf shrimp are the perfect source as they are quick to prepare and pack a lot of flavor. I made this dish with sausage at home and loved it, so I decided to try it with shrimp and pancetta here at the beach.I had gone to the olive bar at whole foods to get somethings for a picnic that I then forgot to bring with me, so I decided to make a pasta dish around the what I had bought. I like those new little four compartment containers they have so I filled it up with the pitted castelvetrano olives, spicy Mediterranean olives, roasted tomatoes and mozzarella balls. I tossed these in at the end and they lots of texture and flavor to this simple dish.
Once your pasta is cooked this literally takes about 5 minutes to cook and is really delicious. We paired it with the Librandi Ciro Rosato from Calabria and it worked beautifully
serves 4
ingredients
-1 lb dried pasta (I like the lumonconi, but you could us rigatoni, penne, orchiette or any short chunky style of pasta)
-2lbs head on Gulf shrimp, deheaded, peeled and deveined
-1 ounce pancetta diced
-3 cloves of garlic sliced thin
-dried pepperoncini
-1/2 cup chicken or fish stock
-a splash of whatever white wine or rose you are drinking with your meal
-your favorite olives and stuff from the wf olive bar - I used 2 types of olives, mozzarella balls and roasted tomatoes - about 1/2 cup each, chopped to bit sized pieces
-salt and fresh ground black pepper
-handful of fresh basil chopped
-lots of grated Parmesan cheese
directions
-cook pasta to directions on package, drain and set aside.
-add olive oil to pan and heat to medium. Throw in pancetta until just starting to brown on the edges, and the garlic and pepperoncini, and wait til they sizzle, about 10 seconds. Add shrimp and fry until they just begin to turn pink. Add stock and splash of wine, increase heat until shrimp are cooked through, but be very careful not to overcook.
-add cooked pasta, toss to coat it with the juices and cook for another minute.
-remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, stir in remaining ingredients and plate immediately.
