The BEST Dinner Ever!

I’m so excited to finally have my blog up and running after so MANY of my friends have been after me to do this. You’re welcome Allison and Michelle. I love to photograph my food and share it on Facebook so why not blog about it and have a space where I can give you all of the juicy details?? So here I am, posting my second blog about food on the same night. Can you tell I’m excited to write about food??

Let’s talk (okay, I’ll be the only one talking, but I didn’t want to sound rude) about my dinner tonight. The hubby was quite pleased. No, that doesn’t do it justice, he thought it was DE-licious!! Just so you know, I was laid off 6 months ago and since then have been watching a lot, and I mean A LOT, of the Food Network and experimenting in the kitchen.....with cooking. I’ll have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself. So, let’s chat about tonight’s dinner. My friend, Giada De Laurentis, taught me how to make Linguini with Shrimp, Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes one day while I was overdosing on the Food Network. Sure, Giada has a few TV shows, many years of experience, and is a Chef to the stars, but I still took the liberty of making some changes to her recipe. I mean, I’m practically a Chef after watching the Food Network non-stop for six months. This turned out to be one of the best dishes I’ve ever made! It was such a light and flavorful sauce and so colorful! Like my other friend, Paula Deen, says, you eat with your eyes first and this dish was gorgeous! I highly recommend!

Like I mentioned in the recipe below, I used linguine because Giada told me to, but next time I’ll use spaghetti or rotini.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound linguine (I used whole grain linguine, but think I’ll use spaghetti next time)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Two 12-ounce bags cherry tomatoes, stemmed and halved
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 3 large cloves garlic, flattened and chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed, stalks cut on a diagonal into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (or one bunch of kale like I used)
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen shrimp from Wal-mart – fancy)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil ( I used about 5 fresh basil leaves and 2 teaspoons of dried)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (I omitted because I’m not a fan of mint)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (used dried - remember to rub in your hands to release the oils before adding to pot)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Smoosh all the tomatoes with a fork. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the wine and asparagus (this is where I added kale. Cook just enough to wilt). Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the shrimp with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and continue to simmer until the shrimp is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the basil, mint and oregano.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately.