Douglas Kitchen Odyssey: Shrimp Puttanesca

This is a savory pasta dish that packs a lot of flavor between the shrimp, capers, and olives. It's also relatively simple and doesn't require a lot of unique ingredients. I found the recipe on Food & Wine and don't think I made any changes (except to leave the tomatoes unpeeled.) They didn't call it a puttanesca, but considering the ingredients I decided to use that title. Some puttanescas have anchovies in them, but this one does not. Overall this is a good option for a quick and tasty week night meal. And it gave me the chance to use a little fresh rosemary from the 1-herb strong garden, so that's always a plus. We also tested our our new garlic-grating tool we got at the farmer's market in San Diego. It's a little ceramic plate with sharp ridges that works miracles in grating garlic or ginger.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds medium shrimp, shelled
4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
several dashes of dried red-pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2-3 medium tomatoes (about 3/4 pound) chopped
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 tablespoons drained capers
1/3 cup halved and pitted black olives
fresh lemon, to squeeze on top (optional)

Directions:

Heat a large skillet or frying pan to medium and add the oil. When it is hot, add the shrimp to the pan along with the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Stir and try to spread the shrimp out evenly. Stir occasionally until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon.

Next, add the tomatoes, rosemary, capers, and olives to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, start boiling your pasta water. Any type of pasta will do.