Garlic Shrimp with Fra Diavolo Sauce and Linguini

Good afternoon, readers! We finally made it to the weekend, thank sweet baby Jesus. Hopefully all of you feel the same way I do and are fortunate enough to be blessed with the fantastic weather Raleigh is currently experiencing (it's sunny, breezy and in the 70s)! This year Nate and I decided to stick to the Lenten tradition of no meat on Fridays (the first year since we've been together...sorry mom) and rather than eating greasy fried fast food fillets (ewe), I wanted to make something special. I cracked open my Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals Get Togethers cookbook and found a recipe for 4-minute Garlic Shrimp with 3-Minute Fra Davolo Sauce that sounded just excellent!

After the busy work week I had, running 3 miles at the gym, and feeling less-than-ideal, a recipe promising under 5 minute anything was too fantastic to resist.

4-Minute Garlic Shrimp with 3-Minute Fra Davolo Sauce with Linguini

The shrimp:
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, whole
24 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined with tails intact
2 Tsp grill seasoning
The sauce:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 small onion, chopped (recipe called for 2 shallots, but I didn't have any available)
1/2 C dry sherry
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (called for crushed but Aldi had diced on sale)
1 Roma tomato, diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried parsley)

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook whole garlic cloves and shrimp in olive oil. Season with grill seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook shrimp until pink and seared on both sides. As Rachel promised, this only took a few minutes! Remove shrimp from pan and set aside (I recommend covering the dish with foil to keep warm).

Remove the whole garlic cloves from the shrimp and coarsely chop. Return the pan to heat and add remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil. Throw the chopped garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and onion (shallot) into the pan and cook until soft. Add in the sherry to deglaze the pan of all the yummy shrimp-drippings and allow the liquid to reduce by half. Add tomatoes and bring to a bubble for 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt, pepper and parsley.

I made some linguini to accompany this fantastic dish and it will DEFINITELY be on my frequent dinners list! The shrimp was succulent and sweet, the sauce spicy and delicious and the linguini was the perfect vehicle for all the miraculous delicious-ness.

While trying to take the perfect food picture, I accidentally let half of my plate-full of food slip off my plate and onto the floor. And Nate's back...sorry honey. Look at how we suffer for you!