SPECIAL SHRIMP AND SPINACH

Special Shrimp and Spinach image

I had a bunch of dollops and dabs in the icebox, and wanted to use them up. We fell in love with this yummy mix, and it is so light that you don't even feel guilty if you go back for seconds!

Provided by Cindy d'Aquin-Pike

Categories Seafood

Time 1h45m

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

1/2 lb small, peeled shrimp
1/2 medium chopped onion
5 or 6 clove fresh fine chopped (not minced) garlic
1 inch fresh minced ginger
1 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
1 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
1 Tbsp fresh lemongrass, minced-if you can't get it fresh, you can buy the fresh in the tube lemongrass from walmart. it is in the produce section.
1/4 c olive oil
1 lemon, freshly squeezed with pulp
1 bag of fresh baby spinach, rinsed and the tough stems removed
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
dashes coarse ground sea salt-to taste
med ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 c toasted pine nuts
1 medium roasted red pepper, sliced
4 oz angel hair pasta

Steps:

1. Cook the pasta in some olive oil and salt until just a slightly bit underdone. Don't fret; it will be completly cooked as a finished dish. Drain well, rinse, put back in a pot;drizzle with just enough olive oil to keep from sticking. Set aside.
2. In a cast iron skillet(I have a very deep one that is 13" in diameter, and about 100 years old that I use), saute the garlic,onion,red pepper and ginger in a splash of olive oil. Add the shrimp and saute until just slightly under done.Add the spices (the dill,basil,lemon grass). Add the mushrooms and the spinach but don't stir them into the shrimp.Just layer them over the shrimp, otherwise they will become very soggy. Cover for about three minutes, then stir everything together. The spinach should be slightly limp, but not soggy. This will complete the cooking of the shrimp, and they should now be a nice shade of pink. The four oz of angel hair pasta that you started out with should have become eight oz. of cooked pasta. Fold it into the shrimp mixture, along with the pine nuts. The juices in the bottom of the pan will be absorbed by the pasta. Pour the squeezed lemon juice over the mix, and stir. Cover for a couple of minutes on a very low fire. Don't let it scorch.
3. Serve with a spinach salad, and garlic bread. I'm sure that white wine can also be added, but since I no longer drink, I omitted it. Hubby suggested sun roasted tomatoes, but as yet, we haven't tried this addition. We did sprinkle it with fresh grated parmasean cheese,and a light sprinkle of red pepper flakes;it really brought the flavors together! Add the salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.