Marcella Hazan was a favorite cookbook author and instructor of mine. I’ve honestly never cooked a dish using one of her recipes that I didn’t love. This recipe for shrimp with tomato sauce from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is a simple one, like many of Hazan’s recipes, but it’s a keeper!
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, to taste
1 ½ to 2 lbs. medium shrimp—shelled, deveined, washed and dried
1 2/3 cups canned imported plum tomatoes such as San Marzanos, with their juices, cut up
Grilled or toasted crusty bread or pasta, for serving
Method
- In a large nonreactive skillet, cook the onion in the olive oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and the chili peppers and cook until the garlic becomes a pale gold.
- Stir in the parsley, then add the tomatoes with their juices and liberal pinches of salt. Reduce the heat and cook at a steady simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes cook down and the oil begins to separate from the sauce, about 20 minutes.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet and stir to coat with sauce. Cover and simmer until the shrimp are just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve immediately with grilled bread or toss with your favorite pasta.
