Foodist Approved: Spicy Shrimp and Cherry Tomato Linguine
Being that this is Summer Tomato and that we’re lucky enough to be in the midst of summer with local tomatoes at their peak, I thought we were due for a recipe that highlights this colorful and flavorful lycopene-rich vegetable.
To me no country knows its way around a tomato better than Italy, so in July and August I find myself gravitating towards cooking a lot of Italian-inspired cuisine… which naturally means pasta!
And if you’re going to eat pasta, I say go all out and buy fresh linguine from a local artisan producer (none of that quinoa brown rice wanna-be pasta). There is a time and place for quinoa, don’t get me wrong, but for this recipe we need the real deal.
The best part about cooking seasonally is the minimal amount of ingredients needed to create a memorable dish. Local tomatoes are naturally sweet and don’t require a lot of extra help from ingredients we don’t love, like sugar. You can make the meal complete by adding a simple side salad of arugula, walnuts and shaved parmesan.
Oh and don’t forget the wine!
Spicy Shrimp and Cherry Tomato Linguine
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 10 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
- 1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled, deveined
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 servings linguine, boxed or fresh
- parmesan, shaved
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt and red pepper flakes. Sauté until tomatoes release juices then toss in the shrimp.
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken and shrimp are no longer translucent.
While sauce simmers boil a large pot of salted water and cook linguine according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Divide pasta into bowls and top with a generous amount of sauce. Sprinkle with shaved parmesan and serve immediately.
Elyse Kopecky is a social media and digital technology consultant based in Portland, OR. After 10 years working for NIKE and EA SPORTS in Portland, Amsterdam and Geneva she briefly left her desk job for the chance to study culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Follow her adventures in the kitchen and on the trail at freshabits.com and @freshabits.
Yum. That is all 🙂
I made this for dinner last night. It was delicious!! My boyfriend raved about it and said it was much better than any of the restaurant pastas he’s had recently. I used penne instead of linguini because that’s what I had on hand. Light, fresh, and very satisfying. Thanks Darya!:)
I think it is not well known that italians are not used to eat parmesan cheese with sea food, so I would like to suggest you to add olives instead of parmesan.
Yummy and healthy ’cause cooked tomatoes are believed to have great nutritional values also: http://www.listonic.com/protips/get/bqixuykgye . Thanks for recipe, I finally found something with tomatoes and shrimps! I would eat it everyday!!! 😛
Made this recipe for my husband and myself. We LOVED it! He just asked me to make it again next week! High praise:-) Keep those great recipes coming!
This recipe was excellent, and very fun to make. Also, the presentation of this meal was gorgeous. Thanks!