As a home cook, I am always on the lookout for new ingredients to try in my dishes. Ben to Table, a subscription box specifically curated for at-home cooks and food lovers like me, sent the Italian Delicacies for me to try.
The box is filled with interesting ingredients, including Fregola Sardinian pasta, a pebble pasta I had yet to use in my cooking. It also included some grilled, jarred artichokes and onions, spice blend, garlic oil and a yummy chocolate bar from Portland-based Ranger Chocolate.
It came at the perfect time, as I’ve been digging through my pantry for inspiration during this wild time. The box inspired this pasta dish, which used a few of the ingredients mixed with some items I had on hand.
Ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 cup Fregola (Sardinian pasta)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup packed baby spinach, chopped
- 3 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ cup Castellino grilled onions (optional)
Instructions
Warm vegetable broth in a small sauce pan on the stove.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper, cooking for 3 minutes per side. Remove cooked shrimp and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skilled with minced garlic and cherry tomatoes, cooking for about 2 minutes. Add in Fregola and stir into oil for about 2-3 minutes to begin soaking up liquid.
Pour about 1 cup of warm broth into the skillet, stirring to combine, until liquid is absorbed. Continue to add in broth, about ½ cup at a time, similar to how you cook risotto, until all of the liquid is absorbed.
Add fresh, chopped spinach and grilled onions (optional) to the skilled when you add in the last bit of broth, stirring until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the spinach is just wilted.
Return shrimp to the pan, stir and remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired. Serve.
