Cosmic Shrimp Two Ways

My wonderful sister-in-law Cathy parted with her flavorful shrimp appetizer recipe years ago after we vacuumed it up at a family party. My paper copy of the recipe is quite bespattered and tattered now, and I can't believe I haven't shared it here on The Crispy Cook before now, as it is one of our favorites. We like to bring these tasty crustaceans to parties and serve them chilled on skewers (in which case we cook up the larger sized shrimps) but we also have found the recipe makes a great warm topping for our noodles, too.

I am wasting no more time sharing this keeper with you all, especially since our Gulf Coast seafood supply is endangered with that BP oil rig disaster. Grab some shrimp now and cook this up before they are $30 a pound and marinated in crude.


Cosmic Shrimp Pasta

1 head broccoli, cut into florets (save stem for another use)

1/4 c. olive oil
1 -1/2 lbs. shrimp, peeled, deveined and patted dry (use large or jumbo shrimp if you are serving the shrimp as a chilled appetizer, otherwise medium shrimp are better for a pasta topper)
3 Tbsp. gingerroot, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 -1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped ( jarred roasted red peppers work fine too)
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1 bunch scallions, sliced very thin
1 Tbsp. black sesame seed (optional, but it does add nice color)

1 lb. pasta, cooked and drained

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add broccoli florets and steam until bright green and crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and cool.

In a large frying pan, heat 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil until hot. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink and opaque, another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, blend together the remaining olive oil, lemon and lime juice, salt, red peppers, hot sauce, scallions and sesame seeds. Add shrimp and broccoli and toss to coat.

For Cosmic Shrimp Appetizer: Cover and chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours and then thread shrimp and broccoli on wooden skewers and serve as an appetizer, with leftover sauce drizzled over. Or you can serve as a mound on a lovely plate with toothpicks on the side for personal skewering. Serves about 8-10 shrimp lovers.

For Cosmic Shrimp Pasta: Toss cooked shrimp with pasta and serve immediately with a little extra lime juice and extra-virgin olive oil on the side for diners to sprinkle on. Makes 4-6 dinner servings.

The Cosmic Shrimp Pasta seems perfect to send over to Presto Pasta Nights, a weekly celebration of the noodle in all its delicious forms, which is an event started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. This week's edition of Presto Pasta Nights is being hosted by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and she will be posting a pastarific roundup of all the other dishes submitted by food bloggers next Friday, May 21. Grab your pasta pot and get boiling!