Shrimp, Grape Tomato & Pasta

My son likes to cook. Being a modern husband he shares this duty with his wife. He often calls me for the details of a recipe at least once, okay, twice, even three times. Patience. I remind myself that cooking a good meal takes practice and I've been doing it for, uh, let's say, a long time. Hours after his final call will come the really final phone call...."Mom, it came out great!" The kid is a chip off the old, Italian block.

Back to the supper time phone calls....when Jared's phone number pops up on the caller ID and all I hear is a groan, I pretty much know there's a recipe dilemma.  The most common..."I forgot to defrost something to cook." Now, I have rarely faced this problem in my years of cooking. First, I am a obsessive compulsive grocery shopper. I get a high walking into a supermarket. Sooooo, I have enough pantry staples and frozen food in my freezer to survive a small war. Secondly, I take after my mother. She can grab 4 ingredients and create a feast fit for a queen. So, forgetting to defrost has never been a problem for me, BUT...this trait hasn't formed on my chip off the old, Italian block....yet.

When that supper emergency call comes in, I ask, "Do you have this, this, this or this?" If he has at least two on the list, we've hit a home run.  I will now give my dear foodie readers this gem of advice...Keep a bag of shrimp or a small bag of ready-made meatballs or a package of grilled & ready chicken strips and any frozen veggie in your freezer. If you do, you will never be stumped on what to cook tonight.

The recipe in today's post is simple, quick and tasty. The trick is season, season, season the few ingredients needed and you will enjoy this meal, heartily! It serves 1, so double or triple as needed.

Shrimp, Grape Tomatoes, & Pasta

6 large to jumbo shrimp, cooked or if fresh, deveined and tail removed
6 Grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1 Tablespoon olive oil + extra
1 handful fresh basil
1/2 cup broth, any flavor
3 cloves garlic
salt, pepper & garlic powder
angel hair pasta, enough for one serving OR
Rice sticks/noodles, yes, rice sticks
(I'm eating less wheat these days)

Put cleaned shrimp in a small bowl with garlic powder, salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil. Mix & set aside.  Begin cooking pasta according to directions. While pasta is cooking, drizzle Tbs. of oil in a pan and saute garlic cloves for about 2 minutes. Add grape tomatoes, sprinkled with a bit of salt and more garlic powder, and saute for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and cook approx. 3 minutes on each side. If  using pre-cooked shrimp then saute only 2 minutes.

Slowly add broth while gently stirring all browned bits together with broth. Simmer 2 minutes. Add fresh basil and simmer 1 minute. Drain pasta well.
Serve shrimp mixture over the pasta with a side salad and enjoy!
*you can add more broth, but first be sure to scrape together all those tasty brown bits in the pan, then add more broth.

Remember To Make Memories At The Table