This simple recipe is from the latest cookbook by Jamie Oliver: jamie's italy. In this wonderful book(which Paul gave to me for Christmas), Jamie travels throughout Italy writing about the food and the people. It is a companion to his television series of the same name.
He emphasizes many of the things we learned about food in Italy - simple, seasonal, fresh ingredients. We have this vision of Italian food as being robust and bursting with garlic, basil, oregano, tomato and coated with heavy sauce and cheese. Nope. That may be Olive Garden Italian food but it certainly wasn't food we enjoyed in Italy.
This recipe originally was from Sicily where the foods tend to be spicier than they are in other parts of Italy. The first time we made it we knew it was a keeper. We since made it two other times and each time it has been wonderful.
1 lb dried spaghetti
sea salt, freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 - 2 dried red chillies, crumbled
1 lb peeled raw shrimp (large)
1 small glass white wine
2 heaping tablespoons sun-dried tomato puree, or 6 sun-dried tomatoes pureed in a blender (note - we didn't have any on hand so I used a small can of cherry tomatoes, the flavour wasn't as intense but it worked in a pinch)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 handfuls of arugula, roughly chopped
Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water until al dente.
Heat about 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan. When hot add the chopped garlic and crushed chili pepper. As the garlic begins to colour add the shrimp and saute them for a minute. Add the wine and the tomato puree. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving about 1/2 a cup of the cooking water.
Toss the spaghetti with the sauce, squeeze in the lemon juice, and add half of the arugula. If the sauce is thick add the reserved pasta water. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
Divide between four plates, sprinkle with lemon zest and the rest of the arugula leaves.
In Italy it is gauche to add cheese to a dish which contains fish. Shrimp being fish there should be no cheese with this . . . what can I say - we're gauche! LOL
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