It was getting late in the evening, and after today’s filling lunch, The Two Guys weren’t feeling particularly hungry for a full dinner.  “What do you want for dinner tonight,” John said.  “A bowl of cereal.  There’s no time to cook,” Nick offered.  “Are you kidding me?” John gushed.  “Give me ten minutes.”

OK, so it was fifteen minutes later that The Two Guys had whipped up shrimp with garlic and parsley in a light cream sauce, dotted with
toasted pine nuts, and garnished with freshly-shaved Pecorino Romano and smoked paprika.  Now pay attention, because it’s really quite simple.

First, put a pot of water on the stove, lightly salt it and turn up the heat to high.  Once it starts to boil, toss in your pasta.  We like angel hair with this dish, but really, one could use any kind of pasta.  (If your shrimp is frozen, now is also the time to put the frozen shrimp into a bowl of hot water, to quickly thaw out).

Chop up about 10 cloves of garlic:

The Two Guys Love Garlic

Add to a third of a cup of olive oil, a handful of minced parsley, ground pepper and salt:

We Love Olive Oil

Toss in the shrimp:

Raw Shrimp Deveined, Tails On

Brown a handful of pine nuts in a very hot, large saute pan:

Browns in Less than 2 Minutes

Remove the browned nuts and use the same pan to quickly saute the shrimp:

The Magic Starts

Warning – you must move very quickly, as the very hot pan cooks the shrimp and garlic quite fast.  It requires constant agitation, lest the garlic burn:

Cooking

More Cooking

Within two or three minutes, it’s done:

UNDERCOOK

Don’t overcook shrimp!  It’s going to continue to cook under residual heat.  You’re better off leaving it undercooked, because the residual heat will finish it.  Overcooked shrimp are an abomination – tough, hard, lifeless pieces of protein.  Yecccch.

Leave the heat on high and toss in a few tablespoons of heavy cream:

OMG...Heavy Cream

Now we know what you are thinking – “We thought The Two Guys didn’t keep heavy cream around.”  Well, you’re partially correct.  We don’t typically use heavy cream, but we had some in the refrigerator, as we had to buy it last week to use in the Cacio e Pepe recipe.  So yes, we normally would have used soy milk and reduced it a bit in the pan, but given the tender nature of the shrimp (as well as the fact that we already had it on hand), we figured what the heck.

Nothing wrong with a bit of Parmesan:

Fresh Parmesan Works too

Throw in the pasta:

Angel Hair Works Best

Toss:

Almost there

Plate up:

We Love our Microplane

By the way, if you don’t already own a Microplane, now is the time to get one.  This is the best little grater ever made.  No, it’s not for large jobs.  That honor belongs to your trusty tower with graters on all four sides.  This is for quick grating over plates.  The blades are razor sharp; they make quick slicing of any hard cheese; and the unit cleans up very fast under hot water and a little soap.  Ours was a gift from Nick to John, but you can get yours at any number of retailers, including John’s favorite food equipment website microkitchen.com as well as Nick’s favorite retailer Williams & Sonoma.

Garnish with the toasted pine nuts:

We LOVE Pine Nuts

And just a light dusting of the smoked paprika:

Enjoy!

Trust us – a little smoked paprika goes a very long way.  You should be able to find it at any decent grocery store.  If not, you can find it online at Penzey’s.  Sometime this year, The Two Guys will make their Smoked Paprika Shrimp and post the recipe.  It is so good!

OK anyway, grab a decent bottle of Sangiovese and sit down and eat.

Here’s the recipe:

10 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 Teaspoon ground black pepper
½ Teaspoon ground sea salt
½ pound large shrimp, devined, shells removed, tails on (roughly 15 shrimp)
10 ounces pasta, preferably angel hair
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated finely
Pecorino Romano, shaved, for garnish
Smoked Paprika, for garnish

If the shrimp are frozen, put them into a bowl of hot (not boiling – hot from the faucet is good) water and let thaw.  It should take a few minutes.

Salt a pot of water, bring it to boil, and add pasta and cook until al dente.  This should take about 10-15 minutes, depending upon the type of pasta.  While this is going on, you should be able to cook the shrimp, as detailed below.

Heat up a 12 inch saute pan until very hot.  While it’s heating up, chop up the garlic and parsley, add to the oil with the pepper and salt.  Toss with the shrimp until coated.  Let sit for a few minutes.

Toss the pine nuts into the very hot pan and quickly shake until browned, about 30-45 seconds.  Remove and set aside.  Keep the pan over high heat.

Put the shrimp mixture into the pan.  (To reduce the oil content, it’s ok to strain the mixture through a large mesh sieve or a small colander.)  The shrimp and garlic will cook very fast, so you must constantly agitate (or stir) the mixture.  It will be done in about two minutes.

While the heat is still on, add the cream and Parmesan.  Stir quickly.  Remove from heat.

By this time, the pasta should be done.  Drain it and toss with the shrimp mixture.  Move quickly, because the shrimp is still cooking in the residual heat.  And there’s nothing worse than overcooked shrimp.

Once tossed, plate up and garnish with the pine nuts, shaved Pecorino and just a dusting of the smoked paprika.

Enjoy with a solid, dry red Italian, such as Sangiovese.  If you want to impress your guests, serve it with a bottle of Nebbiolo.

Until Next Time . . .