Cooking in Ecuador - Shrimp & Pasta

Dear Family and Friends,

Today I am doing something a little different by sharing a great recipe.

Last Saturday, Chuck bought some shrimp at the market and I set out to find a recipe for preparing them. Cooking in Cuenca is a little different than cooking in the USA because we cannot always find the spices or other ingredients required. On the plus side, the ingredients that are available to us are much less expensive than in the USA.

I am sharing this recipe for anyone who would like to try it, but especially for my Cuenca friends because all of the ingredients are available at either the Super-Maxi and/or the market.

Pasta and Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 big green onion, minced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered (tiny tomatoes avail at Super Maxi)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups torn fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir in the spaghetti, and return to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through, but still firm to the bite. Drain; toss with 2 tablespoons of the butter.
2. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onions and mushrooms until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the grape tomatoes and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook and stir until tomatoes are heated through, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp, and cook until the shrimp just begins to turn pink, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the white wine and lemon juice, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until shrimp are opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach; once spinach has wilted, stir in the cream and Parmesan cheese. Simmer until all ingredients are heated through and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve over the cooked spaghetti.

We invited Ossie over for dinner and we served this dish. It was very very good. Since we can buy our shrimp at the market already shelled and deveined, this makes it a simple dish and great for guests. If you prep earlier in the day, throwing the ingredients together in a wok only takes a short while to have a nice delicious meal.

If you try this recipe and like it, please let me know. If you would like to have other recipes that I have tried, and like, let me know. I am more than happy to share.

To see this recipe online click here.

Bon Appetit,

Nancy