Citrus, Shrimp and PASTA??!!

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I am an Italian girl at heart. No doubt about it. Thank God I married an Italian hunk or I would have no excuse for all the pasta I try to shove down my relatives mouths. That being said– I am always on the look out for the next great pasta dish! I came across this recipe called “Citrus Garlic Shrimp.” I was scared. I have never been a big fan of seafood pasta dishes, they just don’t seem to mesh together, or at least not in my mind! I am a sausage and meatball kind of gal. So I said, heck no and put the recipe to the side. Lo and behold dinner comes around and guess what is the only protein we have in the freezer that night? Yup, shrimp.

It must be a sign. So here we go.

Citrus Garlic Shrimp:

1 package (16 ounces) Linguine

½ cup olive oil

½ cup orange juice

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

5 teaspoons grated lemon peel

4 teaspoons grated orange peel

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Shredded Parmesan cheese and minced parsley, optional

After I read those ingredients, I said, “HECK, that’s all the ingredients I need? Shoot, who cares if it taste bad, super simple!”

Step 1. Cook linguine according to package directions. (Use any noodle you have on hand, I used spaghetti. It really makes no difference.)

Step 2. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the next eight ingredients; cover and process until blended. (I actually didn’t have any OJ but my mother had just given me some fresh oranges and I fresh squeezed about 4 of those and 2 lemons. Fun at the time, but my knuckles are telling me otherwise at the moment. I also just guesstimated when grating the lemon and orange peels. After awhile the lemon rind wasn’t grating so I said, “Screw it.”)

Step 3. Pour into a large skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, stir in shrimp; simmer uncovered until shrimp turns pink. (Its a lot cheaper to buy frozen shrimp, instead of fresh. So if yours is frozen best thing to do, throw it into a bowl of HOT water and let it sit for about 2 minutes. This trick also works for any kind of meat as well. It just has to sit a tad longer in the water.)

Step 4. Drain linguine (spaghetti), toss with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.

Finished. I think its going to taste really dry, yikes. First bite, ehhh. Second bite, kind of growing on me. Dash some more salt and pepper on my plate. Devoured in 4.5 minutes. Surprisingly the citrus was very subtle. Left my taste buds wondering and wanting more of whatever it was.

And the part I couldn’t get enough of? The Shrimp!