Lime Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

The other day I went searching for new recipes to try.  I knew that I wanted to make something with shrimp and that I had a lime in the refrigerator from which I had removed all the zest so I needed to juice it.  I searched on the internet and found two shrimp recipes to try, so I went on a shopping trip to the local fish market: Oregon Seafood, and purchased two pounds of peeled and veined shrimp (I’m learning).  This is a recipe that I found on the Food Network and is provided by Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa.

The Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp recipe calls for two pounds of shrimp and two lemons.  I only wanted to use one pound of the shrimp and had the one lime, so I though I would halve the recipe.

I was surprised how quickly this dish cooks.  I put water in a pan to boil for the noodles, and set the temperature for our small lower oven to 400 degrees.  I rinsed and dried the shrimp then seasoned with salt, pepper, then added about a teaspoon of grape seed oil and spread the shrimp on a cookie sheet.

I decided to make the salad for this meal so I pulled the items out of the refrigerator to start cleaning and chopping.  I realized that I needed to hold off putting the noodles in the water or the shrimp in the oven because they would finish cooking before I could complete the salad.

Once the salad was just about completed, I put the shrimp in the oven to roast for seven minutes.  I also added about a tablespoon of grape seed oil to the boiling water.  The recipe called for one pound of angel hair pasta and the package I used was 14.5 ounces.  I decided at the last minute to add all the noodles to the water to cook.  The recipe specified only cooking the pasta for three minutes, but I let it cook for four minutes and I’m glad I did, any less cooking time and the pasta would have been unpleasantly crunchy.

Once I drained the noodles (reserving some of the water per the recipe to add back later), I added the butter, salt, pepper, 1/4-cup of olive oil, and the juice from the one lime and mixed everything together, then added the shrimp into the pot with the noodles and it was time to serve.

The shrimp had a great taste and were cooked to perfection: not overcooked and rubbery or “fishy” tasting.  The pasta had a good flavor, but I had cut the ingredients for the sauce (butter, oil, lime juice, and spices) in half but kept almost the standard volume of pasta and as a result the pasta ended up a little dry.  We found that a small amount of the Newman’s Own® Cesar salad dressing we used on the salad, added just that little bit of extra moisture that the pasta sauce was missing.

I will make this recipe again, it is fast and easy to make.  Next time I make the recipe, even if I reduce the amount of shrimp, I will add the recommended amounts of ingredients next time I make the pasta to make sure it has the necessary sauce content.  I may try the recipe with lemons and see if that makes a difference.  Either lemon or lime, I’m sure we will enjoy the results.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell