Cooking Pasta With Giada De Laurentiis
Published by Carolin on Tagged Italian, Pasta, Shellfish
So by now you have probably realized that I love the cooking shows. I could if I had the time watch them most of the day. But I don’t have the time so I catch them when I can. One of the shows I do enjoy is Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. I love the way she cooks very simple dishes. The ones you know you will just love. Now mind you I love Italian cooking and I love to cook Italian. But with her dishes there is nothing pretentious about them. They are dishes she grew up with or dishes she has modified to fit into our busy lives.
Now that I have said I love Italian cooking. I believe I have mentioned before I am not a great fan of pasta. I love to cook pasta dishes. It is just that pasta doesn’t seem to love me to much. A lot of the time I start to get a feeling that I am bloating up. Well someone suggested to me that I should try brown rice pasta. Well for me it has changed my life. I can finally cook pasta and enjoy it. So if you are like me and get all bloated then I suggest you try the brown rice pasta. By the way my kids love it and do not know the difference.
So back to Giada De Laurentiis and cooking Italian. Well the show I caught the other week was made just for me and for me to share with you. She cooked pasta that sounded and looked so good. Oh and so easy. You know how I love easy cooking. She cooked with frozen shrimp. Now I thought maybe I was the only one that did this. Apparently I was wrong. Now I do it because I usually have forgotten to thaw them. I had this idea if I put them in frozen then I would have just that much more flavor. Well she cooked with frozen shrimp out of convenience and speed. She basically cooked this pasta dish within 20 minutes.
Well guess what I cooked this recipe also within 20 minutes the other night and served it to dinner guest and they absolutely loved it. It has one of my favorite flavors as a base. Yes lemon. You know how I love lemon. I followed the recipe to the T as I usually do for the first time and I would not change it up one bit. That is how good it was. I encourage you to try it and don’t be shy about serving it to guest.
Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil
For the lemon oil:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested
For the pasta:
1 pound linguine pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots diced
2 garlic cloves
16 ounces frozen shrimp
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 lemon zested
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces arugula (about 3 packed cups)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
For the lemon oil: Combine the olive oil and the lemon zest in a small bowl and reserve.
For the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked linguine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Turn off the heat and add the arugula. Using a mesh sieve, strain the lemon zest out of the reserved lemon olive oil and add the oil to the pasta. The zest can be discarded. Add the chopped parsley to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36599,00.html
I served it with a Caesar salad, some crusty bread and of course I lovely glass of wine.
COOKING TIP OF THE DAY
If you cannot find arugula you could use baby spinach.
Leave a Comment