Wine And Shrimp Pasta Served In Key West Last Night

I find it very intriguing to just "put together" a meal. What I mean is, you may have one key ingredient that you know you are going to work with that evening but, you have no idea how you want to use it. Last night I had some fresh shrimp, Key West Red's, in the fridge. I took them out and laid them on the counter. Then I picked up some garlic, a leek, a dried cayenne pepper, fresh parsley and some tomatoes. I opened the pantry door and a box of pasta fell out! What did that tell me? OK, let's have a pasta and shrimp dinner! I did have my pasta dinner but many more ingredients went into the pot before the dish hit the plate.

But first, as I always do before starting my preparations, I pulled out a bottle of wine from the fridge. A nice white chilled Aveleda Vinho Verde kept me company while preparing my shrimp pasta. I have really been enjoying these Portuguese wines this summer. Of course I picked up this one because it was on sale AND the label looked very lovely. Aveleda is produced by Quinto da Aveleda in the region of Vinho Verde. It is a combination of Trajadura, Loureiro, Arinto and Azal grapes. The alcohol content is only 10.5% which makes it a nice wine for summer sipping. This was a nice clear, bright wine with gentle aromas of fresh fruit which followed smoothly and delicate on the palate. This one did not have as much effervescence as the Pavo I had the other night, but it still had a nice crisp, bright flavor to it. Very enjoyable!

So I started my sauce for the shrimp pasta with the ingredients shown, but ended up adding fresh herbs from my container garden, white wine, a shallot, a pinch of sugar and butter. So easy to assemble and all of these ingredients, while cooking, filled our house with mouthwatering aromas! I am going to give you this version of shrimp pasta, but hey, do like me and just add whatever you may have in your fridge and pantry to make it your special dish!

Deb's Throw Together Shrimp Pasta

Olive oil

1 sliced leek

3 cloves of chopped garlic

1 chopped dried pepper

1 shallot chopped

1 little bunch of fresh parsley chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

A pinch of sugar

1 little bunch of thyme and oregano chopped

1 glass of while wine

1 big plop of butter

Fresh shrimp shelled and deveined

Enough spaghetti pasta for 2 cooked

Basically I just sauteed the leek, garlic, shallot and pepper in the olive oil with a grind or 2 of sea salt for a few moments. Then I added the herbs, sugar, tomatoes and white wine. I let all of this simmer for about 7-10 minutes. Then I added the shrimp till they were cooked and then put in the butter at the end to make it a bit creamy. Cook the pasta, drain, add shrimp mixture and serve. So easy and so tasty for a quick summer supper!

I would surely enjoy hearing some of your "throw together" dinners that you whip up at the end of the day with whatever you have in your pantry!

Cheers!