Sauté of Local Shrimp with Spaghetti

Happy Humpday from Charleston, SC!

Here in South Carolina, and Georgia as well, we have some of the best seafood anywhere on the east coast. From Amberjack to Snapper and everything in between, it is hard to find anything less than amazing seafood.

One of the things that Charleston is very proud of is it's locally caught shrimp. To find out all about shrimping from North Carolina through the Gulf Coast please click here: http://www.shrimpalliance.com/

And you can watch this AMAZING video to see just how your shrimp is caught.

There are so many wonderful seafood markets here in the Low Country that it is hard to pick just a few to recommend. My personal favorites are Raul's Seafood in the Shem Creek area of Mount Pleasant ( http://www.manta.com/c/mm69zpc/raul-s-seafood-market ), and Sellsfish in Summerville.( http://www.yelp.com/biz/sellsfish-premium-seafood-summerville ). They are both reputable and only carry the highest quality product.  

I was into Sellsfish the other day, and bought a beautiful pound of shrimp from them, and here is what I made:

Sauté of Local Shrimp with Spaghetti

1 pound 31/40 shrimp, peeled and cleaned

12 ounces spaghetti

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (please use a very excellent quality oil-or the food gods will weep!)

3 cloves garlic (about 1Tbs) minced

1 bunch green onions finely chopped

1 lemon-zested then juiced

1/2 cup dry white wine

Tips of 1 bunch of asparagus

1/2 pint sweet grape or cherry tomatoes halved

1 tsp. sea salt (or Kosher)

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Cook your pasta according to the manufacturer's directions. While the pasta is cooking: in a very large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant-about 1 minutes. add the lemon zest, asparagus, and tomatoes. Continue to cook 3-4 minutes until the asparagus is just al denté. Add your shrimp and toss them around a bit to distribute them. Add the lemon juice, wine salt and pepper. Turn the heat as high as it will go: Toss and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Use caution, because if you over-cook your shrimp they will be little rubber bits of yuckiness (and that makes Chef Julie cry!).

By now your pasta should be done. Drain it and add it to the shrimp sauté. Mix everything together and serve in warmed pasta bowls garnished with a freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

 If you are interested in any of my other shrimp recipes, just go to www.theenlightenedchef.blogspot.com and type "shrimp" in the searchbox!