Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Feta

Welcome to 2008’s last edition of WCW (hosted by Tales of the Fairy Blogmother – be sure to check it out). This morning, I realized this week is also the last Presto Pasta Night 2008 edition AND that tomorrow is the deadline for submitting an entry to Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita and Joe of Italyville in their Seven Fishes Feast, a blog event which is a virtual feast of fish and seafood dishes. The Feast is a tradition in many parts of Southern Italy and Italian-American communities – the common theme is that various fish and seafood dishes are served on Christmas Eve – Joe and Maryann give wonderful details on it, as do Cherrye of My Bella Vita and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso.

Now, when I first read about the virtual Seven Fishes Feast, I wanted to cook something special — since the dish did not have to be Italian, I was thinking of a curry I made several years ago that has a lovely fragrant tomato poppy seed sauce in which you cook flaky white fish. But the last few days have intervened. I was about to give up, when I realized that my planned WCW recipe for today did have shrimp — and so what if it also had cheese (mixing cheese with seafood or fish is a big no-no in Italian cuisine) — it’s yummy. Be sure to check out all the roundups at Finding La Dolce Vita and Italyville.

And next week, come back on Wednesday for my recipe entry for BloggerAid: Because We Can Help. I will share more details on this blog event next week.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Feta

(inspired by Rachael Ray’s 2-4-6-8 book — the original recipe had olives and a longer cooking time, and is also available here)

(serves 2)

1/3 pound linguini
1/2 pound medium to large shrimp deveined and peeled, tails removed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Couple pinches red pepper flakes
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
2 sprigs fresh oregano, finely chopped
1/4 cup capers, chopped
1/3 cup white wine, eyeball it
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

Directions

Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Reserve a cup pasta cooking water.

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper.

While the pasta water comes to a boil, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a deep skillet with garlic. When garlic is brown, remove and reserve. Add shrimp and cook 1-2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, oregano, capers, and wine and cook together a couple of minutes more (be careful not to overcook the shrimp). Remove from heat. Add a small ladle (1/3 cup or so) of starchy pasta cooking water to sauce and some lemon juice. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Let pasta soak in juices for a minute then toss with parsley, lemon zest and feta. Use tongs to pull pasta from skillet, giving it a turn to twist in as many ingredients as possible. Then, use the tongs to remove and arrange the shrimp and ingredients that may remain in the pan, distributing them evenly among the portions. (See below for picture)