July 1, 2012 Dinner – Shrimp Etoufee on PPI Penna Pasta

July 1, 2012 Dinner – Shrimp Etoufee on Penna Pasta

We had worked in the yard and then went to Trader Joe’s and bought glove artichokes, a bottle of cognac, and toiletries for the trip.

When we got home I boiled the artichokes.

With the temperature around 100°F at 6:00 p.m., we were not excited to cook a big multicourse meal.  We had lots of great vegetables that needed to be cooked, so I made a mild version of Paul Prudhomme’s Shrimp Etoufee. 

2 tomatoes, diced

¾ cup red bell pepper, diced

¾ cup celery, diced

¾ cup onion diced

3 cloves of garlic finely minced

½ cup of fresh kale

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 cups of white medium shrimp, peeled

2 Tbsp. flour

4 Tbsp butter

dash of salt

18 to 22 ounces clam juice

white pepper to taste

paprika to taste

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme

1 cup of penna pasta, boiled

I sautéed the tomatoes, onion, celery thyme, white pepper, paprika and garlic in olive oil and butter.  After the vegetables had softened (about fifteen minutes) I added the 11 ½ cups of shrimp to the vegetables’ skillet and cooked until it turned from translucent to white/pink. 

Then in another pan Suzette made a roux with the 2 Tbsp of flour and 4 ounces of butter.  When that had cooked a minute or two and taken on a bit of color, we added the clam juice slowly while stirring to avoid lumps and more white pepper.  When the sauce was smooth and hot we added the shrimp and vegetable mixture and then stirred in the kale to cook lightly.

We served the one dish meal over microwaved PPI penna pasta and drank glasses of Gott Napa Valley Riesling for a fresh seafood pasta dinner.  If I had to do the dish again I would have added saffron and made it more Spanish.  It lacked a spicy zip, so we should have tasted the vegetable mixture and added more paprika or some cayenne as Prudhomme does to his dishes.  As it was, it was rich and creamy like a good pasta dish with a French mousseline sauce.

Bon Appétit