September 20, 2012 Dinner – Shrimp Scampi with pesto tossed spaghetti and blanched broccoli

September 20, 2012 Dinner – Shrimp Scampi with pesto tossed spaghetti and blanched broccoli

We finally have an evening together at home, so I went to Pro’s Ranch Market and bought some large limes (3lb. for $.99), two large avocados ($.99 each), one large tomato (3 lbs. for $.99), 1 lb. of strawberries ($1.39/lb.) and 1 ½ lb. of headless medium shrimp ($3.99/lb.). 

When Suzette got home we picked six shishito peppers in our garden and decided to make shrimp scampi.  So I went to the basement and brought up a bottle of chardonnay to use to make the wine sauce for the shrimp and a bottle of Cutler Creek Pinot Grigio ($3.33 at Sunflower Market).

I then shelled and de-veined 25 shrimp, while Suzette chopped up the peppers and mince garlic and heated butter and olive oil in a large skillet and started a large pot of water to boil the spaghetti.  When the spaghetti had cooked for several minutes, Suzette started heating the butter and garlic and then added the peppers and garlic and sautéed them.  When they had softened some, she put in the shrimp and about ¾ cup of white wine and ¼ cup of water and cooked the mixture for about five minutes.

After the shrimp were cleaned and deveined, I cut the flowerets off a fresh stalk of broccoli to make about 1 ½ cups and we placed the broccoli into the pot in which the pasta was cooking to blanch the flowerets.

When the broccoli and pasta was cooked, we drained them in separate strainers and then tossed the pasta in the pot that had been used for cooking it with a liberal amount of Suzette’s homemade red chile pesto that she had made Tuesday evening, September 18^th.

The prep on this meal took less than 30 minutes.

We then placed the pesto tossed spaghetti in pasta bowls and spooned the shrimp and sauce over it and garnished with broccoli flowerets and poured glasses of Cutler Creek Pinot Grigio.

There are two interesting things about this meal.  One was the uniformity of the pasta flavor throughout the dish was very pleasing.  It pervaded the broccoli and it mixed with the shrimp and wine and pesto sauces to give the entire meal a uniform flavor of pasta that I found very appealing.  The pasta flavor was enhanced because the white wine and shrimp sauce mixed with the pesto and spaghetti and actually blended with and emulsified the romano cheese in the pesto to make a creamy pesto sauce that coated the pasta.  The other thing that was interesting was that the lightness and mildness of character of the California Pinot Grigio actually enhanced the character of the dish and subdued the chili flavor a bit.  So light wine is sometimes a good thing when you are trying to emphasize delicate food flavors, like sauteed shrimp.

Recipe for Suzette’s red chili pesto

4 cups loosely packed basil leaves

1 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese

¾ cup toasted pine nuts

1 ¼ cup olive oil

3 to 5 cloves of fresh garlic

Dash or ¼ tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. of red chili powder (optional)

 Suzette’s red chili pesto is now being made and sold at the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery in Los Lunas for $8.00 per jar.

Later in the evening, Suzette let me taste a new dessert from the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery, a poached and caramelized quince garnished with crème fraiche that was indescribably delicious.  The caramelized quince will be on the Bistro’s 3 month Italian menu starting on October 4, 2012.  For those of you who read this posting before September 26, the new Italian menu and wines will be featured at a wine and food tasting to be held 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Bistro at the Center for Ageless Living’s campus in Los Lunas on September 26, 2012.  The food tasting is free and the wine tasting is only $5.00. 

Bon Appétit