Shrimp Fra Diavolo

October 8, 2012

I have the best intentions of cooking more at home and cooking GREAT things.  And I'm not only talking about special occasions, but for everyday breakfast, lunch and dinner as well.  My intentions can be seen occasionally by the fact that sometimes I do bust out one of the recipes from years and years of food magazine collections (Cooking Light, Food and Wine, Food Network Magazine, Bon Appetit and others) or cookbooks, but most of the time it can be witnessed by the stacks and stacks of magazine pages around my house that I've ripped out because the recipes looked good.  It would be my dream to make a gourmet dinner or even lunch every day in between gymnastics, soccer games, trampoline, trumpet lessons, and now a new puppy. (Yes, you did read it correctly that my 9 year old daughter just took up the trumpet!  Pretty soon she'll be able to play the background music for this blog!)  Sigh...  So I'm going to start smaller.

My new vow is to try one new recipe of some sort from one of the piles and/or a new product at least once a week and I will post it here for your reading enjoyment.

Last week,  I traveled back to October 2010 and made Shrimp Fra Diavolo courtesy of Grace Parisi and Food and Wine magazine.  It was super tasty, so easy to make, only about 30 minutes from start to finish, and not alot of clean-up, but be warned: this dish is spicy.  If your skiddish about hot and spicy, you may want to cut back on the crushed red pepper and  it will probably still be delicious.  Bon appetit!

Shrimp Fra Diavolo  (sorry, no picture- will post next time I make it!)
(4 servings)

1 and 1/4 pounds shelled and deveined medium shrimp
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce thickly sliced pancetta, finely diced (I used regular bacon because that's what I had on-hand)
1 small onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups jarred marinara sauce (Rao's is a good one, or I used homemade that was left over, but whatever you like)
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Crusty bread and/or pasta for serving (I served over whole grain penne)

1.  In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the crushed red pepper; season with salt and black pepper.  Let stand for 20 minutes.

2.  Heat a large skillet until very hot.  Add the shrimp and cook over high heat until lightly browned and nearly cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the shrimp to a plate.

3.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet along with the pancetta, onion and garlic, and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.  Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the skillet.  Add the marinara sauce and simmer over moderate heat until the shrimp are cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the shrimp to bowls, garnish with the parsley and serve with crusty bread.