Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce Recipe

There has to be some sort of succinct scientific term for it.

By “it,” I refer to the doing of something even though you have proclaimed to the world that you don’t like to do whatever it is. I don’t mean a chore like scrubbing mildew from between the tiles in your bathroom, which you don’t want to do, but must, and so you do. I mean something more along the lines of, “Snowboarding?” *rolling eyes and turning up nose* “You don’t need talent to snowboard – you just have to be stoned and stupid. I don’t snowboard. I ski.” Then when six feet of fresh powder drops, and you’ve trekked up the mountain with your friends, you find yourself...on a snowboard.

In the Delicious Life, it manifests itself a little differently – cooking, baking, and eating things that you have publicly declared that you don’t love or cannot eat because you’re allergic.

Is it punishment? Hypocrisy? Some sort of strange, sadomasochistic therapy using reverse psychology?

No, none of the above. It’s shrimp in spicy tomato sauce.

I am not actually sure whether I am allergic to shrimp. When I was a child and ate shrimp, I broke out in miserable hives. One would think that it would only take that very first incident to swear off shrimp for life, but I was a gambler. The strange thing was, sometimes I broke out in hives which I simply put to bed with a good, hallucinogenic dose of Benadryl, and sometimes I didn’t. Doctors and scientists told me that food allergies are curiously fickle – they can disappear into thin air, appear out of nowhere, and if you do have an anaphylactic reaction, each subsequent reaction to the same thing will be worse, possibly life-threatening. Well, that sure made every meal turn into an exciting game of Russian roulette! So after this last outbreak of bodily histamines, the perpetrator still as of yet to be determined (aw, silly health insurance *playful punch in its arm* tying up my allergist referrals like that!), I have declared myself allergic to shrimp, you know, just to be on the safe, healthy, alive side.

pretty, but dangerous

But I made shrimp as part of my Valentine’s Day dinner anyway because I am not one who does thing with but half my ass, so since the menu included that much-maligned-by-Sarah lobster, I was going to blow out all the stops out and make potentially-hives-inducing shrimp, too!

That’s right, “Danger” is my middle name. Sarah “Danger” Delicious. ;)

Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Peel and devein large shrimp, drop them into boiling water for about 2 minutes, then tossed them with a generous squeeze from half a lemon and black pepper.

This spicy tomato sauce is very similar to the Spanish "brava" sauce on patatas bravas. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a sauce pan and saute 1 medium, finely chopped onion until translucent. Add 2 minced cloves of garlic and continue cooking with onions until the garlic is fragrant. Add 1 15 oz. can of plum tomatoes that have been crushed by hand, ½ to 1 c. of chicken stock (depending on preferred consistency for sauce), 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper, 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh parsley, 1 tsp. each of dried basil and oregano, 1 Tbsp sugar, and salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to let the sauce simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Puree sauce in food processor, and serve hot with shrimp.

** this post originally published on 02.19.06 **

tags :: food : and drink : italian : cooking : recipes : los angeles