Last Friday was the end of our fiscal year at work and that meant the potential for a pretty late night for me, so I pretty much told Derek he needed to cook. He texted me several shrimp ideas throughout the day and we settled on trying a hybrid of a couple recipes for shrimp and sundried tomatoes with tortellini.
Things ended up slowing down at dinner time, enough that I was able to help Derek cook and just be able to keep an eye on my computer and work here and there when needed. It actually wasn’t that bad since dinner came together in about twenty minutes – quite a surprise for making things up as we went along.
We used some store bought cheese tortellini and paired it with shrimp tossed with garlic, sundried tomatoes and a quick pan sauce of the drippings, butter and white wine. Oh and some red pepper flakes – I did say it was spicy. You could certainly leave those out or reduce them if you are only a junior mouth burner as our Dad likes to call himself.
Here’s what you need:
Cook the tortellini according to package directions and set aside. I actually got the water boiling (salted of course) and put the tortellini in about the same time as the shrimp but the brand I used only took 3 to 4 minutes to cook – timing will depend on the kind you buy and cooking time.
Heat about 2 T of oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes over medium heat in a 10 inch skillet. Add garlic and sundried tomatoes and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about thirty seconds to a minute.
Toss in a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. This is what we used and it was spicy without overwhelming all the other tastes in your mouth, but just barely. If you don’t like spicy add just a pinch or leave it out completely. These are definitely a ‘to taste’ item – there are probably people out there who think we can’t handle spice at only a teaspoon.
Toss in some shrimp. I used peeled and deveined shrimp and removed the tails.
Cook until the shrimp are done – they will curl in and become opaque, about 3-4 minutes.
Remove shrimp and sun dried tomatoes from the pan and keep warm.
In the same pan add a quarter cup of white wine, a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt.
Bring to a simmer and reduce for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in the pasta.
Add the shrimp and sun dried tomatoes back to the pan and toss with some chopped parsley.
Divide into two bowls, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and dig in.
- 10 oz cheese tortellini
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ c sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, plus 2 T oil from jar
- 1 t red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 20 shrimp (31-40 size), peeled, deveined, tails removed
- ¼ c white wine
- 1 T butter
- Kosher salt, pinch
- ¼ c parsley minced
- Parmesan cheese
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 T of oil from the sundried tomato oil from the jar in a 10 inch pan over medium heat for 30 seconds to a minute until garlic is fragrant. Add red pepper flakes.
- Add shrimp to pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until done – they will be curled and opaque.
- Remove shrimp and sundried tomatoes from pan.
- Add white wine and butter and bring to a simmer. Season with a pinch of salt. Reduce for 3-4 minutes.
- Add pasta to the pan and toss to coat with white and butter sauce. Add back shrimp and sun dried tomatoes as well as parsley and toss together.
- Transfer to bowls and sprinkle with parmesan cheese before serving.
Leave a Reply