easy shrimp pasta with gremolata & marinated fresh mozzarella

Friday evenings seem like such a leisurely time. But often, they're anything but. The kids are off to friends' houses, or you've just made it home from a long, long week at work, and an afternoon trying to tie up loose ends, plus a long, long, commute in the worst traffic of the week. Or maybe you're trying to get all those calls and errands made so that your to-do list isn't lingering over the next few days. You're harried, and so ready for the break the weekend promises, but you've still just one more task.  Dinner.

And heaven knows you deserve a nice meal. You really should reward yourself for a week well-worked. Nice, but simple.  No heavy lifting. You need a few tricks under your belt to pull this off. And this week's focus on gremolata is just the ticket.

Now, we've made the gremolata here, we've made gremolata & olive oil-marinated fresh mozzarella here, we've pulled together a quick snack of gremolata & olive oil-roasted edamame here, and today, we're putting a few of these together for a simple, and simply elegant dish.

easy shrimp pasta toss

with gremolata & olive oil marinated fresh mozzarella

To serve two, in a large stockpot, prepare 2 quarts of water (or more, according to package directions) to boil 2 servings of whole grain pasta, with the addition of 1 tablespoon each of kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Sounds like a lot, I know, but swimming in quarts of water, well, it gets a bit lost in that ocean. We've used angel hair pasta for this dish, but substitute any favorite, as needed.

When water reaches a boil, add pasta, and stir. Cook until al dente, according to package directions. Add about 8 ounces (or more. We like more.) of raw medium shrimp, either shells on or off, as you prefer, to the pot. This will drop the temperature, but just return to boil and continue cooking, about 3 minutes.

When pasta is cooked al dente, or to your desired doneness, and shrimp are opaque and shrimpy in color, pour the entire lot into a colander to drain well. 

While still warm, toss with about 1 cup of gremolata & olive oil-marinated fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with a little more of the marinating oil, if desired.  Toss well.

Finish with kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste.  Garnish, optionally, with additional chopped fresh parsley and/or lemon zest.

These simple, and for me, very favorite flavors of shrimp, lemon, garlic, and more are a beautiful match, and anything more feels like gilding the lily, however to stretch this meal, and up the nutritional ante a bit, add some of your favorite, seasonal vegetables to the mix.

If you'd like a little more oomph, the addition of capers, fresh spinach, artichoke halves, olives, or even sun-dried tomato slices would all be perfect buddies with the shrimp and cheesy goodies already in the bowl.  Just toss them in as the pasta and shrimp drain.

and have a great weekend!