Roasted Shrimp and Lemon Pasta with Artichokes

I think my “inspirational cooking” comes in waves – sometimes I’m coming up with great idea after great idea and experimenting away madly, and then I’ll go through these dry spells where the most creative I can be is adding jam to a peanut butter sandwich. When I get to feeling that I’ll never have another interesting food idea again, I remember that lots of other people have great ideas, and I can always use what they’ve done as a jumping off point to create my own thing.

I start poring over cookbooks, magazine pages I’ve torn out with recipes I’ve “gotta try” and watching a cooking show or two. And if I’m watching a cooking show, it’s probably going to be Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I love that her ideas and recipes aren’t overly complicated to create or use obscure ingredients, and I think her approach to classy and elegant cooking/entertaining isn’t as rigid or time-consuming as some other celebrity chefs. So I wasn’t surprised that as I watched her make a Lemon Pasta and Roasted Shrimp dish, I was figuring out a few Scott touches to pump it up and make it even better. Of course heading to the store and finding shrimp on sale for $4.99/lb. really helped me decide I needed to try it!

All the good stuff in the saute pan – ready to mix with the pasta

The basic premise of the dish was great – lemon, butter, shrimp and pasta. Ina’s roasting of the shrimp is easy and delicious, and Isaw no reason to change that, but at my house we need to add more vegetables to our meals, and in this case I decided on artichokes. I also wanted a broader range of flavor so I added shallot, garlic and capers. After making the dish I was frustrated with the shrimp not really “mixing” into the fettucine, so I have since made it using farfalle – the bow-tie shaped pasta that I find really easy to “toss” with other ingredients. I’ve also used rice, which is more of a base with the shrimp poured over it, but is equally delicious.

So here you go – it’s a pretty easy thing to do. I used jumbo (21/25 count) shrimp and found that in the roasting you want them slightly UNDERdone – the heat of the hot pasta will finish cooking that last little bit and you run the risk of them being tough and/or rubbery if you cook them all the way through in the oven. And if you choose to go with a smaller size of shrimp, reduce the cooking time in the oven.

Roasted Shrimp and Lemon Pasta with Artichokes

• 2 pounds jumbo (21/25 count) or extra large (26/30 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound farfalle
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small shallot, peeled and minced
• 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup capers, drained
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees . Place the shrimp on a sheet pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Toss well, spread them in one layer and roast for 5 to 6 minutes, just until they’re pink.

While the oven is heating and the shrimp are roasting, cook the farfalle in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions.

Heat a saute pan to medium, and saute the shallots 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one minute longer – don’t let it burn. Add the lemon juice and zest, artichoke hearts and capers, and heat through. If the shrimp are still in the oven, turn the pan to medium low.

Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the contents of the saute pan to the pasta and combine. Remove the shrimp from the oven and add it to the pot, including all the juice that may be on the roasting pan. Toss lightly to combine and serve. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

Serves 6-8

The shrimp, artichokes and capers with fettucine – I prefer to use farfalle with this because it’s easier to toss together