Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times - Mark Bittman [28]
2. Add the shrimp and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then serve over white rice, garnished with the cilantro and accompanied by the lime wedges.
SPICY SHRIMP
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 20 MINUTES
DESPITE ITS NAME, this dish isn’t fiery hot, but the addition of a fair amount of paprika gives the shrimp a bright red color that makes people think they’re eating spicy food. The real key here is fresh paprika, not that tin you inherited from your mother. After you buy it, taste it; if it is hot, use half a teaspoon. You can let the shrimp sit in the spice paste for hours. (In fact, I like to dump both shrimp and paste into a covered plastic container, shake them together to coat the shrimp, then carry the container to a party and grill the shrimp there.) But you can also mix the two together right before cooking.
1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1½ to 2 pounds shrimp in the 15-to-18-per-pound range (or smaller, if skewered), peeled and, if you like, deveined
Lemon wedges
1. Start a grill or preheat the broiler or oven. Make the fire as hot as it will get and put the rack close to the heat source.
2. Mince the garlic with the salt; mix with the cayenne and paprika, then make into a paste with olive oil and lemon juice. Smear the paste on the shrimp. Grill, broil, or roast the shrimp, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning them once. Serve immediately or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.
VARIATION
You can take this dish in a completely different direction by substituting curry powder for the paprika, peanut oil for the olive oil, and lime juice for the lemon juice.
SHRIMP, ROMAN STYLE
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 30 MINUTES
THIS SHRIMP DISH is based on a combination of ingredients traditionally used to cook tripe in and around Rome. It’s a simple tomato sauce spiked with the powerful flavors of browned garlic, chiles, and mint. When you make it with tripe, it must cook a long time for the tripe to become tender; when you use shrimp, the dish is practically done as soon as the shrimp are added.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, slivered or not too finely chopped
6 small dried red chiles or hot red pepper flakes to taste
One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice, or 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds shrimp, peeled and, if you like, deveined
1 cup chopped fresh mint or 1 tablespoon or more dried
1. Put the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chiles. When the garlic begins to color, cook carefully until it browns just a bit. Turn the heat off for a minute to avoid spattering, then add the tomatoes.
2. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until all are pink, 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning; the sauce should be quite strong. Stir in the mint and serve.
VARIATIONS
Shrimp, Roman Style, with Pasta
This consistency makes the dish ideal as a topping for pasta: just cut the amount of shrimp to about a pound—with a pound of pasta as the base, there’s no need for more than that. Start the water for the pasta when you start the sauce and begin to cook the pasta at the same time as the shrimp.
Squid or Scallops, Roman Style
The same procedure can be followed to make this dish using squid, which should be cooked just until tender, probably even less time than the shrimp, or scallops, which will take about the same time as shrimp.
SHRIMP WITH “BARBECUE” SAUCE
MAKES