Spicy Shrimp Pasta

You'll need:

10 Jumbo Shrimp (peeled with tails on)

Tomato paste

Garlic

Whole grain pasta

Edamame or green peas

Red pepper flakes

S&P

1-2 Lemons

Tabasco

I went to our neighborhood grocery and couldn't pass up these jumbo shrimp. Having no idea what to do with them, I came home and discovered we had lemons, garlic, pasta, and edamame.

I boiled the pasta and reserved about 1c of the water. I added some cooked edamame to the pasta and set that aside.

Next, I put some salt and pepper on the shrimp (both sides), and sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil, only until they turned pink (about 90 seconds).

I removed the shrimp from the pan, set them aside, and sauteed a mixture of garlic, tomato paste, lemon zest, juice from 1 lemon, Tabasco, and red pepper flakes in the remaining olive oil. Then, I added the leftover cup of water from the pasta.

I let that come to a boil, then simmer for around 5-6 minutes.

I usually find that I season the protein instead of the pasta, and my pasta then falls short. So this time, I decided to pour the sauce onto the pasta/edamame mixture I'd made, and simply place the shrimp on top. This worked out great, I was able to dress it up with about 5-6 shrimp each, and the pasta had a spicy kick to it, while the shrimp retained their flavor. I sprinkled a little parmesan on top, and it was a perfect use-what-you-have, easy recipe! (I was also able to use the leftover pasta, sans shrimp, as lunch the next day by adding some sauteed tofu- making it a totally different meal.)