Monday, March 17, 2008

Pasta Sans Sauce

How do you make a light pasta dish? Aside from not eating too much of it (LOL), is to make it without sauce. So this dish is what it is all about, a sauceless pasta.
Linguine With Shrimp And Arugula:
2 cloves minced garlic, 1 small onion, 1/2 lb of fresh linguine, 1 lb of raw shrimps (deviened, tails off), 1 c. of asparagus (cut in 1-inch length), 1 c of baby arugula, 1 c of diced fresh mozzarella, 2 tbsps of chopped fresh parsely, 1 lemon zested and juiced, salt, pepper, 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tbsps for sauteeing.
Directions:
In a bowl pour 1/4 c of olive oil and the zest of the lemon. Add the shrimp. Let the shrimp marinate in the mixture for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, cook your pasta according to direction. Since it's fresh, it will only take about 3 minutes or so. Reserve 1-2 ladles of your pasta water.
Then sautee your shrimp mixture in the pan. When the shrimps have turned pink on both sides, take them off and transfer to a plate. Keep warm. Then add another 2 tbsps of olive oil to your pan. Sautee your onion, garlic and asparagus until they've softened. Then add back the shrimp, followed by the pasta. If the pasta is too dry, add a ladle of your pasta water (or more, you have to eyeball this). Season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice just before you take the pasta off the heat.
In your pasta bowl, place your diced mozarella and arugula in. Pour your cooked pasta into the bowl and toss. The mozzarella will melt from the heat of the pasta, and the arugula will begint to wilt. Serve warm. Garnish with parsely.


This is an easy, quick meal for those days when you want something light but filling. Since this is a sauceless pasta, it is best to use the fresh pasta when you can. In my opinion, the fresh pasta just doesn't get too dry as the regular ones.

I know that for Italians, you're not supposed to add cheese to a seafood dish. But well, I am not an Italian, so I guess I can break this rule. I grated a little bit of parmesan cheese right on the pasta before serving. The parmesan, I believe, rounded up all the flavors in this dish.

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