Wednesday, January 7, 2015

{Easy Recipes} Andrew Carmellini's Quick Shrimp with Cannellini Beans

I love finding quick dinner recipes that I can make for an easy weekday dinner. My pet peeve is when recipes are said to take only 30 minutes, but takes me so much longer (usually because of prep time).  So I was a little skeptical when I found this easy shrimp recipe in Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian cookbook.  It said it would take at most 15 minutes to make.

Despite a few shortcuts, I took a little longer than 15 minutes overall (though I know I finished prepping and making everything within an old episode of "Friends"). The recipe calls for fresh herbs (which would probably taste better), but I used dried herbs because that's what I had on hand.  I'm definitely making this recipe again because it was so buttery and fast to make. Plus adding pasta and vegetables to leftovers makes another quick and easy dinner for the next day!


Shrimp with Cannellini Beans (from Urban Italian, currently $14 on sale at Amazon; also found the recipe online here)
Ingredients (serves 4-6):
Bean Salad:

1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
10 drops Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 t coarse-ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 T pesto (optional)

Shrimp topping:
1 pound rock shrimp (or tiger shrimp, peeled, deveined, and split in half, head to tail)
4 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T thyme
1 T rosemary
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T parsley
1/4 t salt
1/4 t coarse-ground black pepper
Directions:
For the bean salad: 
1. Drain and rinse the beans in cold water.
2. Combine the beans, onion, olive oil, lemon juice, Tabasco, and parsley in a bowl.
3. Season with salt and pepper. If you have some Pesto around, add that too; it will give the dish a nice herby flavor. Allow the mixture to marinate on the countertop while you prepare the shrimp.

For the shrimp topping:

1. Rinse the shrimp and blot dry on a paper towel.
2. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 T of the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the shrimp, turn the heat to low, and cook until the shrimp begin to turn white - about 1 minute.
3. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes. Continue cooking for 1 minute, until the fragrance of the garlic is released. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 2 T of olive oil and the thyme, rosemary, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the beans on a serving plate and pile the shrimp mixture over the top. Serve hot or cold. (We prefer it hot, and served with baguette or any crunchy, rustic bread)

The cookbook was a Christmas gift and we're so glad we received it! It contains a lot of easy and accessible recipes. The book, along with this recipe, is one that we'd highly recommend!

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