My husband and I made THE BEST pasta dish the other night… it came together and it was OUTSTANDING… quick and easy too! We used spinach spaghetti (Whole Foods), you can use fresh spinach pasta, spinach linguine, or I’m sure regular pasta will do just fine… keep in mind there is also the quinoa pasta available… might be tasty? We’ve made this several times and we get between 1/2-3/4# fresh large shrimp. Frozen shrimp will work just fine. Just run them under cold water to thaw. I’ve used both frozen and canned artichokes, both work fine, as long as they’re thawed/drained. The feta and olives add the perfect touch. I made it for the two of us, adapt the recipe below to suite your needs, add anything else that sounds good to you! Hint: I often will buy some of the veggies (red onion and red pepper) at the salad bar or the bulk veggies cut up at Whole Foods if I know I don’t need the entire pepper/onion… Last time I think the red onion/red pepper was sixty five cents!

Click HERE to print just the recipe…

MED PASTA – serves 2

Spinach Spaghetti (or any pasta, spinach is especially good in this recipe)

Olive oil for sautéing

1/2- 3/4 lb. shrimp (I bought fresh, large, deveined shrimp)

Red pepper (about 1/4 of a pepper)

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, chopped

Artichokes, chopped small (I used either one can, or about 8-9 frozen and thawed artichokes) – drain in either case…

Feta (a few spoonfuls for each plate)

Kalamata Olives (a spoonful for each plate)

S&P

Splash of white wine or pasta water

I used a stir fry pan, I heated some olive oil (about 1/2-1 tablespoon, add more if you need it), once the oil got hot and was dancing around I added the shrimp and cooked until pink and they were done, about 3 minutes, then add a few cloves of minced garlic, cook this for one minute. Holy cow does that ever smell good! Then put this shrimp/garlic mixture into a bowl while you do the next step… (Make sure your shrimp is done, but not OVER done… when shrimp turns pink and opaque, or you see the ends curl up, that means its done)…

Add a little more olive oil to your pan (1/2-1 tablespoon), when hot, sauté the onions and red pepper. When onions start getting translucent add the artichokes and cook for a few minutes (until hot), and add the shrimp back in. Now I have brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (yippee), time to deglaze the pan. I used a little white wine, but you can use water, broth, etc. Literally a few tablespoons, just enough to be able to stir the brown goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan and turn it into heavenly taste for the pasta dish… Add the cooked and drained spinach pasta to the veggies. Toss to coat, add more olive oil if necessary. Using tongs (to pick up all the little veggie pieces) put some of this fabulous mixture on a plate (we use a low rim soup bowl that works perfectly as a small pasta bowl). Sprinkle feta and olives on top. Grind a little pepper and you’re ready to go!

Your eyes just rolled back in your head didn’t they? Too good! Catch you back here tomorrow!