August 25 – August 31, 2025

Monday:                              Barbecued Chicken Salad

Tuesday:                              Pasta Putanesca

Wed – Fri:                      CORE Retreat at Nemacolin / Golf / Indulgence / Visit to Falling Water

Friday:                                  Shrimp Pasta with Caprese Salad

Saturday:                            Sausage, Mushroom and Onion Pizza

Sunday:                               Pork Tenderloin with Cider Pan Sauce/Potatoes/Salad

Save Your Shrimp Tails

Last Friday, exhausted after two and one-half days of golf and overindulgence at Nemacolin Resort, we got back to Casa Stuarti in mid-afternoon with neither the energy nor the desire to cook an ambitious.  After a nap, I wandered into the kitchen and took stock – there was a half-bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer and a box of dried spaghetti and a large can of crushed tomatoes in the pantry and, of course, basil flourishing on the grilling deck.  What else could a good Catholic boy want for Friday night dinner? 

Well, you’re right – I forgot about the martini.  But once I had that shaken and poured, my task was simple.  I put the shrimp in a bowl and let a steady stream of tap water run over them, I cut up a tomato and some peaches and arranged them on a platter with some mozzarella and put a large pot of water on the stove and turned the burner beneath it to low – no need to boil the water until we were ready to eat and Beez was still napping.

And then, one of those serendipitous notions that comes to astrophysicists, world-class mathematicians, great novelists and poets and songwriters and to home cooks after a martini, hit me.  I had once made a seafood stock with the shells of shrimp and fish bones.  What if I tossed the tails of the shrimp I was thawing into the water I was going to cook the pasta in?

Well, the rest is history, or rather an insignificant backwater of personal history.  It turns out that using just the tail shells of shrimp (I buy shrimp deveined and peeled, but with the shell remaining on the tail) you can make a powerful shrimp stock.  Don’t forget to throw a goodly amount of salt into the water and, of course, you’ll need to remove the shrimp shells before putting the pasta into the water.  But the result will have you cooking this dish again and again.  The pasta itself becomes coated with a shrimp-tasting sauce and is unique among the seafood pastas I have cooked – a new family favorite.

I do not mind at all if you claim the idea as your own to impress family and friends and to get some of the praise and thanks you have earned but not received over the many years you have been cooking for their sorry keisters.

PASTA WITH SHRIMP

Timing:                 After shrimp is thawed about 20 minutes

Ingredients:                             Serves 4

½ – ¾ pounds of large shrimp (peeled, deveined, with tail shells on)

Note:  If you have the energy to peel and devein the shrimp yourself, please do so – and do not discard any of the shrimp shells, you’ll be cooking them in the pasta water.  However, I suggest you purchase shrimp which has been peeled and deveined but with the shells still on the tails of the shrimp.  Those tail shells will give you all the flavor you need to create this unique pasta.

1 pound linguini, fettuccine or spaghetti – I’d go with the spaghetti.

2 pints cherry tomatoes – ½ cup dry, white wine – 1/3 cup chopped parsley, plus more for serving

¼ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup thinly sliced garlic (7 cloves) – I used a half-teaspoon of garlic powder

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes – I used a full teaspoon

4 tablespoons butter – 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil – Lemon zest for serving – Kosher salt

Prep:

Thaw shrimp – remove tail shell and place the shells in the water – pat the shrimp dry and season with some salt.

Put a large pot of water on the stove, add the shrimp tail shells and a good handful of salt and bring to a boil.

Assemble other ingredients

Cook:

Bring the water to a boil and remove the shrimp shells, then put the pasta in the boiing water and cook to al dente – reserve a cup or two of the pasta water and drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet (you’ll need a 12 inch skillet here) heat the butter and olive oil over medium.  If using the garlic, add and cook about 1 minute, until lightly golden.  Now add the tomatoes, the crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Cook, sitting from time to time, until most of the tomatoes have burst, maybe 8  minutes.

Now add the wine and ½ cup of the pasta water, bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes to reduce slightly.  Stir in the shrimp and cook until they are just starting to turn opaque – 3 minutes or so.  Pour the sauce and the shrimp over the pasta, add the parmesan and toss well.  Add the parsley and toss again.

Serve in bowls with a good couple gratings of lemon zest and some more parsley.