Mediterranean Shrimp Linguine

The first weekend I have had to myself in absolutely months had me a little concerned about what to do with my days.  Even though I do love to take trips away, which may seem like I give myself lots of R&R; that is really not quite the case.  I tend to go over the top with planning too much, getting up to early and going to bed too late, which is what I did last weekend in rainy LA.  Even our fun tour of Universal Studios needed an early wake up call. I then tend to need a vacation to rest from my vacation!

This was a weekend with no alarm clocks and no plans.  The first thing I did was book the outstanding InterContinental “Retreat Yourself” package for Sunday as a very nice friend had given me a gift card.   The next was to fill my fridge with much needed groceries.

A grocery shopping trip to Shaw’s in Back Bay with my friend BosGuy had me wandering the aisles coming up with about 20 different dishes I planned to make that evening while watching Thor: The Dark World on DVD, which had just arrived and opening a bottle of one of my new, just delivered wines.  I eventually settled on buying some fresh uncooked shrimp and linguine for a dish I had found in a very very old Healthy Cooking magazine.  This dish is just slightly less healthy and adapted a little more to my liking.

Mediterranean Shrimp Linguine

Mediterranean Shrimp Linguine
Serves: 4.  Prep/Cook time:  45 minutes

Ingredients

1lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1lb fresh linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ small onion, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ cup white wine
¼ cup of chicken stock
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup kalamati olives, sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano

 Directions

Season shrimp with salt, pepper and lemon juice and set aside.

Cook linguine according to package directions.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat sauté onion and garlic until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms; cook and stir 4 minutes. Add shrimp and cook through until turned pink.  Add wine, chicken stock and all other remaining ingredients; cook and stir for about another 5-7 minutes or until heated through. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Drain linguine and serve with shrimp mixture.

Lots of left overs to enjoy for the next few nights

Add a little parmesan if needed, which I did and enjoy with a glass a Sauvignon Blanc and a movie of your liking.  Thor worked fabulously.

As a side note, do remember to check that all your shrimp has actually been peeled.  Mine was supposed to be when I bought and I found some still had the skin on.  Not good!