Recipe-Shrimp Spaghetti with Red Peppers & Tomatoes

As I promised earlier this week, here is my new quick & easy (& scrumptious!) recipe for you to try.  I came up with this last week when I was really hungry, in a hurry, and didn't have much on hand except for frozen shrimp and a few remaining items from my CSA share. (All ingredients except for the shrimp, spaghetti, and cheese were from my CSA share.) I whipped this up in a small batch, and wished I had made more!

The recipe below should serve 2-4, depending on how hungry you are. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes, which is good, because you'll be hard-pressed to wait much longer to eat it, once you smell it cooking!

Shrimp Spaghetti with Red Peppers & Tomatoes
Ingredients:
2 sweet red bell peppers
1 lb raw peeled shrimp
1 ripe tomato
2 cloves garlic
4 TB butter
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
5-6 leaves fresh basil (optional)
Parmesan cheese (for topping)
8-oz dry spaghetti (or other pasta of your choice - angel hair would probably be very good as well)

Utensils: (for recommendations, visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/cookingfromscratch.html)
1 large pot of boiling water
Large heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably stainless steel)
Cutting board and sharp knife
Wooden spoon
Measuring spoons
1 large colander
Kitchen shears (optional)

Instructions:
1. Thaw shrimp in a bowl of cold water (if frozen), and remove shells
2. Core red peppers and remove seeds and veins. Slice into thin strips, then cut crosswise once.
3. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat until it foams. Add peppers and reduce heat to medium-low. Saute, stirring occasionally, until softening - about 8-10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mince garlic and dice tomato.5. Add spaghetti to boiling water, and cook 'til done, stirring occasionally. Drain in colander.
6. Increase heat and add garlic, crushed red pepper, and salt to peppers in skillet.  Saute, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
7. Add shrimp & tomatoes and continue saute, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes more, 'til shrimp are pink, and tomatoes are softened.
8. Using kitchen shears, snip fresh basil leaves into skillet and add ground pepper to taste. Stir and turn off heat.
9. Serve over hot spaghetti, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.
10. Say YUM!

(Sorry -- I meant to take a picture of it over the spaghetti, but I forgot and ate it all first!)   Let me know how you liked it, and if you made your own modifications, feel free to share!

 

Related Spaghetti Recipe Articles:

• Recipe: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic Crumbs ( Gluten-free recipe) (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Review: Ready, Steady, Spaghetti (bookingmama.blogspot.com)
• Learn new ways to use peppers with recent cookbooks (knoxnews.com)
• Family hands down chef's shrimp pasta recipe (pbpulse.com)