Spaghetti with Squash, Heirloom Tomatoes and Grilled Shrimp

I knew this dish was going to be good but I didn't realize how good!  I made it in the beginning of September when I could still find heirloom tomatoes.  They are so sweet and full of flavor!  The recipe calls for cherry or grape tomatoes so this can be made any time of the year.  I bet it would be delicious with winter squash as well!

If you like veggies I would definitley double up on the zucchini and the yellow squash.  We definitely lost some pieces before they got tossed with the pasta.  That bowl of roasted veggies was hard to resist!

This is a great dish to make when you are having company.  The recipe can easily be doubled, the shrimp can be marinated ahead of time and the veggies can be cooked ahead of time.  They will heat up again when tossed with the hot pasta.

Spaghetti with Squash, Heirloom Tomatoes and Grilled Shrimp

Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

1 zucchini, sliced into thin rounds

1 yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds

1 pint baby heirloom tomatoes

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti
1 cup arugula leaves
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano Cheese, plus more for serving
Grilled Shrimp, recipe follows

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat for the spaghetti.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the squashes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and give it all a good toss. Dump that out onto a baking sheet and roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the squash is tender and caramelized. Scrape the vegetables into a large pasta bowl and cover with a plate to keep everything warm.

The pasta water should be boiling by now. Add the spaghetti and stir to separate the strands. Cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente.

To finish, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, drain the pasta, and toss gently with the roasted vegetables and Grilled Shrimp. Add the pasta water if needed.

Grilled Shrimp:

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
16 large head-on Jumbo shrimp in the shell, shells split down the back
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix garlic, lemon, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and add shrimp.  Marinate for 1 hour or more. Heat a large outdoor grill and wipe down with oiled paper towel to create a nonstick surface. Add shirmp and  grill for 3 minutes per side baste with marinade as you go.

Click here for a printable recipe.

Spicy Shrimp and Chicken Sausage Stir Fry

On Tuesday night, I was happy to find myself alone in the apartment.  B was off at the Celtics game for a guy's night out and I was ecstatic to be able to get some alone time.  I had some pretty low key plans - laundry, wrapping a housewarming gift, and catching up on some DVR.  I wanted to cook myself something simple but tasty for dinner and I ultimately settled on throwing together a simple stir fry.

Since B doesn't like shellfish, I rarely cook with it when I'm cooking for the two of us.  So when he is not around, I tend to try to incorporate shellfish into my meal.  I have a bag of frozen shrimp on hand so I took out about half a dozen of them and dethawed them.

I then got to work on my other ingredients.  I chopped up half a large white onion that was leftover in the fridge.

I also chopped two cloves of garlic along with some green onion.

We also had two leftover spicy Italian chicken sausages in the fridge, which I sliced up.

I wanted to make the stir fry spicy so I picked a few ingredients from the pantry to work with:

The beauty of a stir fry is how easy it is to cook.  I started out by heating up a pan on the stove with some olive oil.  I first added the chopped onion to the pan.

After the onion had softened a bit, I added some fresh cracked pepper, coarse salt, cayenne pepper and the spicy chipotle rub to the onions. 

I then added the coarsely chopped garlic cloves and the sliced chicken sausage to the pan.

When the chicken sausage had sufficiently browned, I added a few splashes of the Pickapeppa Sauce along with the chopped green onion and the shrimp.

At this point, I lowered the heat and put a lid on the pan.  I wanted to let all of the spicy flavor blend together.  When I opened the lid, the spicy aroma was so intoxicating.  As much as I love spice, I wanted to mellow out the heat so I grated some leftover cheddar cheese on top of the stir fry when I plated it.

I absolutely loved this improptu dish.  The stir fry had a lot of heat and I loved the combination of the green onion, chicken sausage and the shrimp.  I thought that the plate was really inviting in color but I will admit that it probably lacked some crunch.  Next time I would consider adding some water chestnuts or celery to give some contrast without taking too much away from the flavor.  Regardless, this spicy shrimp and chicken sausage stir fry was the perfect dish when I was cooking for one.  I was happy that there was enough leftover for lunch the next day.  The leftover stir fry really soaked in all of the spicy flavors overnight and I think it might have been even better for lunch.

 We all like to cook for ourselves sometimes.  This leads me to ask - If you cook for someone else like a roommate, family or signficant other on a regular basis, what do you like to make when you are just cooking for yourself?