Roasted Shrimp with Penne Pasta

Ingredients

1 pound raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined (we used frozen shrimp, thawed and peeled)
2 green onions or regular onions, chopped (about ½ cup)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
¼ cup fresh chopped herbs (such as chervil, parsley, tarragon or 2 tablespoons dried herbs (we used a Tuscan blend of dried herbs)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (we used herb and garlic)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4.5 ozs of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
13-16 ozs of penne pasta
2 tablespoons capers
½ teaspoon chicken base or crumbled chicken bouillon
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring large pot of salted water to boil for pasta. Spray large cooking sheet with cooking spray for the shrimp. Place shrimp in single layer on cooking sheet. Sprinkle chives, onions, garlic and herbs over shrimp. Whisk together the olive oil and lime juice and pour evenly over the shrimp. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Roast until shrimp are opaque, about 10 minutes.

While shrimp is roasting, cook penne pasta according to package directions. During last minute of cooking time, scoop out and save about a ½ cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta. Pour reserved pasta water into pan and add the chicken base or bouillon and stir to dissolve over medium heat. Add pasta, capers and Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Add roasted shrimp along with all the seasonings, spices and juices from roasting pan and gently toss.

Serve in bowls and offer freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top and serve!  Serves 5.

We paired this dish with a 2007 Monte Antico Toscana.  It was quite nice.  Rae couldn’t taste much and didn’t like the finish on the wine.  I liked it and blamed her hesitation on her head/sinus infection.  The roasted shrimp were awesome!  We’re cooking all our seafood like this from now on.  The shrimp were firm and flavorful.  The whole dish was moan-worthy.  Yum!!  We didn’t have a single noodle left!!