Capellini with Shrimp and Spinach

This is a very simple dish to make for a busy weeknight dinner. We eat a lot of chicken at home. Mainly because I still have an aversion to red meat that taste too “meaty.” I’ve been trying to cook other types of protein so I bought a few bags of frozen shrimp. I don’t care too much for shrimp. I think it tastes okay but it is usually more expensive than chicken. The bf eats large portions.

I am stumped most nights when it comes to what I want to make for dinner. I cannot come up with or stick to a weekly meal plan. I never know what I want to eat and I won’t cook it if I’m not feeling it. I admire those who can come up with a weekly dinner plan and stick to it.

I usually start to think about my dinner in the morning. One day last week, I was inspired to make this dish by a dish I like to order at a restaurant called Cucina Colore. The restaurant is described as warm, upbeat, contemporary Italian cuisine. We rarely dine out these days. I like dining out but I feel that I can make the same dishes for a fraction of the cost. The bf said we should go out to a nice restaurant at least once a month. I would rather stay in and make it myself. Maybe it is because I ate out too much during my dating and socializing days. I notice that most of my friends now have families and it is really difficult for them to dine out.

The Cucina Colore version features both shrimp and scallops but I don’t cook usually cook scallops at home so I decided on a shrimp only version. I also made it a lot less brothy than the Cucina Colore version. I wanted leftovers for work and the brothy version would result in soggy pasta.

Here is my version of this very simple pasta dish inspired by a dish simply called Capellini - seared sea scallops, gulf shrimp, roasted tomato, spinach, pecorino, garlic broth

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ pounds extra large shrimp
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, concasse (peeled, seeds removed and diced)
½ cup dry white wine
salt
pepper
1 pound capellini pasta, cooked al dente
12 ounce bag baby spinach
fresh Italian parsley
grated pecorino

1. Cook pasta.

2. Heat a large 4 quart sauté pan, add oil and olive oil. When butter is melted, add garlic and sauté about a minute. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp slightly pink. Add tomatoes, white wine, salt and papper. Cook until tomatoes are soft and wine is reduced by about half.

3. Add pasta, spinach and parsley. Stir to combine. Cook until spinach is wilted. Serve with pecorino cheese.