Each weekend I spend a little time with the food ads, my coupons and cookbooks planning the week's menu. This allows me to make the most of my grocery shopping trips and save a ton of money. Last Christmas my mom bought me the cutest perforated notepad - it's a menu planner on the left and a grocery list on the right. A true life-saver. I use the heck out of the thing.
Anyway, the plan for tonight was to have Hlellem again since we enjoyed it so much last time. However, just like last time, I forgot to soak the beans while I was at work. <*groan*> As frustrating as it was, all was not lost. I just scanned down the week's menu and decided to make Wednesday's meal instead: Rachel Ray's Shrimp Puttanesca. It's super easy to make and amazingly tasty. Again, another "Go-To Meal" for me.
To make the meal you need: pasta (penne works best, but I used farfalle tonight), anchovy filets (do NOT even think about leaving these out!), garlic (lots of garlic), red pepper flakes, olive oil, olives, capers, crushed tomatoes, shrimp and parsely. These ingredients are all very strong, so it packs HUGE flavor punch. Not sure I would make this for a first date.
Anchovies before they melt down and garlic before it softens
The aroma at this point is heavenly... gotta loves those anchovies
Tomatoes, olives, capers and shrimp have been added. Time to cover and cook.
The finished product
Total time for the dish, start to finish, is about 20 minutes. Can't be beat!
Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention about this dish. Puttanesca sauces are historically linked to prostitutes. The ladies would place the pots in their window sills and use the aromas to lure sailors to their place of business. While I am not advocating prostitution, you have to admit, it's a pretty good marketing strategy...
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