Pasta with fried ancho chillies, garlic and shrimp, olive oil and parmesan.
Do you know one of the great things about being a home husband?
Basically, you can do whatever you want in your kitchen. Mix kitchens. Match unlikely foods.
Case in point, my friend Peg Poswall made this quick and easy pasta dish. Ancho chilies (dried poblano chilies) are typically Mexican. Parmesan? That would be Italian. Tossed with pasta and shrimp? huh?
Believe me it’s great.
We inhaled it. And the next day I made another batch just for me.
It’s actually not that far fetched when you think about it. If you just replaced the ancho chiles with red chili flakes, you’d have something that would at least seem classic Italian with the addition of garlic, olive oil, and parmesan.
It’s the unmistakable taste of the ancho chile that provides the wow factor here.
Ancho chile, shrimp and pasta
If you don’t have access to ancho chiles, you can steer more to the Italian side and simply use 1/4 teaspoon of red chilli flakes to brighten up this dish.
ingredients
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8th ounces long, thin noodles, such as spaghetti or fettuccine
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Salt
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1/2 Cup vegetable oil (grape seed or rapeseed)
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3 cloves garlicthinly sliced
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1 ounce (approx 2 medium to large) dried Ancho chilliesrinsed, cored and deveined
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1/2 lb (count 21-25) raw shrimppeeled, deveined and tails removed, the shrimp pieces cut into thirds
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Black pepper
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Fresh grated parmesan
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lime or lemon juice, freshly squeezed
method
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Cook pasta:
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil the pasta when you start this recipe. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook al dente.
While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe as follows.
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Slightly brown the garlic:
Heat oil in a small pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add chopped garlic. Cook until lightly browned, then transfer to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.
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Fry sliced ancho chillies in oil:
Thinly slice the ancho chilies (can be made like basil chiffonade, just roll up into a cigar shape and slice crosswise). Add the sliced chillies to the hot oil and cook for ONLY 20 to 30 seconds.
Using a slotted spoon, place in the bowl with the garlic. Do not overcook the chilies or they will become bitter.
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Cooking Shrimp in Ancho Chili Oil:
Add the raw shrimp to the pan with the oil now infused with chili and garlic. Increase the heat to high, cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are just turning pink. Remove from stove. Add the shrimp and oil to the bowl with the garlic and chillies.
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Combine pasta with shrimp, garlic, chillies, oil:
Add the drained, cooked noodles to the bowl with the shrimp, garlic, chillies and oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and mix.
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Surcharge:
To serve, divide among bowls, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and a little lemon or lime juice.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 788 | calories |
| 57g | Fat |
| 49g | carbohydrates |
| 24g | protein |
