Pasta with Shrimps and Tomatoes
(“Pasta con Gamberi e Pomodori”)
(“Pasta cu l’Ammaru e Pumaroru”)
This is an easy dish to prepare in little time and with a few ingredients.
My Uncle Ferdinando, who lived with us in our family home, used to prepare this dish for his afternoon snack, and share with me and my siblings this delightful and flavorful pasta dish.
In the preparation of this sauce, the garlic is present only with a scent, the small amount of tomato, the wine, the onion and the basil are part of a bouquet that enhances the taste of the shrimps and the flavor of the sea.
This simple and yet delicate sauce combines perfectly with the pasta, to create a traditional dish with authentic Mediterranean characteristics to satisfy the most discriminating bon vivant.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. Spaghetti, spaghettini or angel hair
- lb. shrimps (20-26). Shelled, deveined and washed
- ½ lb. cherry tomato (Pomodori di Pachino). Cut in small pieces
- ¼ of cup white wine
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
- 8 shredded basil leaves
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Red crushed pepper to taste
- Salt and pepper
- Basil leaves to garnish
Preparation
In a large sauté pan, place the oil with the diced onions and cook until onions are translucent; add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are a light brown. Combine with the tomato and ¼ cup of water.
Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, add ½ of the shredded basil, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside until you are ready to cook the pasta.
Boil 5 quarts of water with 2 tablespoons of salt, and cook pasta al dente, following the directions on the package.
At the same time, warm the sauce on a high heat. Add shrimps and when shrimps start to turn pink, add wine and continue cooking for 2 minutes on a high heat, then lower flame.
Drain pasta and reserve some of the water.
Add pasta to the pan with the sauce; toss over a high flame until tender and agreeable to your taste. If pasta get too dry add some of the reserved liquid.
Remove from the flame, add the remaining shredded basil and serve immediately.
Garnish each plate with basil leaves.
Variation
My niece Marzia serves this pasta with fried zucchini on the side. Wash the zucchini, pat dry and cut into rounds, a little more than a quarter of an inch thick, lightly drench in flour and fry with olive oil.
