i personally don’t think you can ever go wrong with a pasta dish. honestly, there are so many things you can do with pasta – salad, minestrone, chicken parm – but one of my faves is shrimp scampi. i actually found this delish recipe on pinterest (duh?) but per usual, i modified it a teensy little bit: she said her recipe served six (!!) and there’s no way we need that much food here, so i halved it, added a few things, and voila.
what you need:
4 ounces linguine (or spaghetti)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 lb medium size shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1 clove of garlic, minced, or a teaspoon of already chopped garlic from the store
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
one small red bell pepper, chopped
1/8 cup white wine (i used pinot grigio, since we had it in the fridge)
one lemon, squeezed
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, as garnish
as much parmesan cheese as your little heart desires, sprinkled on top
what you do:
start by bringing a pot of water to boil, with a smidge of salt, and tossing in the linguine. next, sautee your shrimp, red pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic in a teaspoon of olive oil. the shrimp should be pink after about 2-3 minutes. add wine and lemon juice, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. your pasta should be done by now; drain and toss it with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil, then add to the shrimp mixture. toss the parsley on top, mix it all together and dish out into bowls. top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!
wine pairing:
as scampi is a traditional italian dish, you should go with a traditional italian white, like pinot grigio. i don’t care for pinot grigio, so i stuck with my german riesling, which went fine, but wasn’t an exceptional, boom! pairing. definitely avoid chardonnays and anything red.