Monday Night Mash-Up: Shrimp, Linguine, Goat Cheese, and Lemon Zest

Recipes

Ooooh, this MNMU is a MUST. Ever since Whole Foods opened in Charlotte a few months ago they have been seducing everyone with some pretty sweet deals, but this one was out of control: buy one (1) package of linguine, and get a FREE pound of wild shrimp!! I couldn’t even believe my eyes on that one, but it was true:

Yep. Spent under $2 on a bag of pasta and got over *$13* worth of wild shrimp! Two great deals on ingredients that go perfectly together? It was like an organic Whole Foods happy meal happening right in front of me. I added some goat cheese into the mix, a bit of olive oil, some lemon zest, and got an incredible dish for under $10!! Creamy and delicious.

PunkWife’s Whole Foods Favorite: Wild Shrimp and Goat Cheese Linguine

Ingredients:

1 lb wild shrimp
1 package Whole Foods Organic Linguine
2 tbsp goat cheese
zest of one lemon
extra virgin olive oil
red pepper flakes (optional)

The How-To:

First, since the shrimp are wild, they have to be cleaned.*(See note below.) Once that is complete, toss them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of olive oil, and the lemon zest. Stir to coat, and marinate for 15 minutes.

Next, fill a medium sized pot with salted water and boil. This will be for your pasta. While that’s boiling, and once your shrimp has marinated, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a medium skillet on medium heat. Once the oil has heated, add your shrimp to the skillet and sautee until lightly browned on each side (about 5 minutes each.) Set aside.

Cook your pasta for one minute less than the package says. Drain your pasta, add it to your skillet, and toss with the shrimp and olive oil. Add the goat cheese and red pepper flakes, toss again, and serve.

*Any good little Italian worth her weight in pasta has done this at least once for Christmas Eve. If you haven’t, it just involves removing the shell and de-veining the shrimp. I won’t go into detail but you can find a “how-to” on that over here. Or, you could avoid the whole process altogether and purchase shrimp that has already been peeled and de-veined – your call. (*cough*wussy*coughcough*)

Alessandra Macaluso is the author of What a Good Eater! , Lucy the Bee and the Healing Honey, and The Real-Deal Bridal Bible. She’s also a Qigong and Tai Chi instructor, and overall wellness advocate. Her work has been featured in several anthologies which can all be found on her Amazon author page, and she has contributed to The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, TODAY Parents, and many other online publications.

Alessandra is a northerner-turned-southerner, enjoying the south with her children, Penelope and Ciro, and her husband, Greg.