New Year, New Foods: Stuffed Colossal Shrimp over Squash “Noodles”

Yes, it’s 2015 and I’m recommitting to my blog. It’s true. I feel like I tread water every day just trying to figure out life, and in doing that, my writing has been lacking.

Big time.

Sorry about that.

So! I made some dinner tonight to inspire and revive all of us in a month where the light is minimal, the movie releases suck and we all procrastinate to take down the Christmas decorations. Or is that just me?

I have a veggie spiralizer, it makes noodles out of veggies, and I love the damn thing. If you don’t have one, you can just peel veggies in noodle-like shapes with a hand peeler. Then you’ll contemplate ordering a spiralizer off Amazon like I did.

I present unto you, Stuffed Colossal Shrimp over Squash “Noodles.”

Ingredients:

For Stuffed Shrimp:

• 6-10 Colossal Shrimp (I found these bad boys at Fred Meyer $4 for five, yay Pacific Northwest)

• 2 cups breadcrumbs (I used about a 1/2 cup of leftover, janky Italian breadcrumbs in a can with 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs)

• 4 tbsp salted butter

• 2 tbsp (or like two turns around the pan) olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/4 cup dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc, the really cheap crap)

• Dried oregano

• Crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/4 cup Shredded parmesan

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

• Fresh parsley

For squash noodles:

• 1 medium yellow squash, either spiralized or “noodled” with a veggie peeler

• 1 tbsp olive oil (with a “little smidge” of Trader Joe’s black truffle oil)

• 1 tbsp salted butter

• 1 small shallot, sliced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth

• Sea salt (with another “little smidge” of Trader Joe’s black truffle salt)

Prepare thine shrimp, except these jerks are so big they’re like little lobster tails… neveryoumind:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Butterfly by slicing down their little backs, but not all the way through. Because that wouldn’t be a butterfly, that would be a “damn slice in half.” Place evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet covered in cooking spray.

In a sautee pan on medium, melt the butter, then heat with the olive oil. Add garlic until fragrant (about a minute, but don’t brown it.) Add white wine and simmer down a couple of minutes until it’s thickened a little. Add the breadcrumbs and mix with everything until combined. Remove from heat and add oregano, crushed red pepper, parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff breadcrumbs in the backs of the shrimp and pack extra around each individual shrimp. Thrown in the oven for 12-15 minutes, my oven runs hot so it was like 12 for me.

When you get down to a couple of minutes of shrimp cookin’ left, it’s time to noodle up.

Use the same sautee pan and heat a little more olive oil. Add shallots and cook until they’re slightly brown (and don’t keep stirring that ish around, just let it hang out and caramelize a little bit because it’s damn delish.) Throw in the garlic and let heat for another minute but don’t let the garlic get brown and icky. Add the chicken broth and let it reduce down and thicken, add in last little bit of butter and mix around until it resembles a sauce. Add in squash noodles and mix in with sauce along with a little sprinkle of truffle salt and/or sea salt and black pepper.

Cover noodles and steam for two minutes, remove from heat but leave covered for a few more minutes; At least long enough to pour yourself another glass of wine.

Chug the wine.

Plate noodles in a delightful spiral with the shrimp alongside in a jaunty way to suggest you know what you’re doing when it comes to things in the kitchen.

Voila! Done. Eat up, and pour yourself another wine or two. Revel in your culinary awesomeness.

Listen to: “Goth Radio” on Pandora. Go ahead, create that for yourself. You’ll thank me later.

Drink: Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon

Pet your doggie after dinner. Doooo eeeet.