I’ve been feeling the spring vibe around here lately, even though the weather has not been cooperating.  It’s April in SoCal, for Pete’s sake, and it was 48º out the other morning when I was driving the kids to school.  That is wrong, people, wrong.

So I’ve been trying to encourage the weather with my culinary offerings.  The other day, it was Asparagus Tart, and keeping with the asparagus theme (spring!  spring!), I recently made a nice pasta dish that included asparagus and shrimp.

My boys love shrimp.  In fact, the 6 year old loves it so much that he often cites it as his favorite food.  And, in a slightly more unusual twist, he used “shrimp” as an answer on a school assignment: when asked to describe “peace” with the 5 senses, he wrote, “Peace smells like… shrimp.”  Good grief, I hope it’s fresh shrimp.

So I new the kids would be elated if I made shrimp pasta.  They were so excited, in fact, they even agreed to stop with me at the grocery store to buy said shellfish.  You know they mean business when they are willing to run an errand on the way home from school.

Spring Shrimp Pasta

• 1 lb. whole wheat pasta, preferably penne or rotini
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch asparagus, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 lb. shrimp, deveined, shelled, and tails removed

Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about one minute.  Add the asparagus and cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes.  Add the shrimp, taking care to spread them out so all pieces are touching the bottom of the pan.  Cook until the bottoms of the shrimp are opaque and pink, about 3 minutes; then flip each piece of shrimp.  Cook an additional 3 minutes, until all shrimp are opaque and pink.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water to loosen sauce.  Toss the asparagus and shrimp with the pasta, adding reserved water if needed.  Serve immediately.

Optional:  You could also add caramelized red onions to this dish, in which case you should cook them for about 7 minutes with the garlic, before you add in the asparagus.

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Bon appetit!

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