Shrimp Carbonara

I’m pretty sure that if I made this meal every night for dinner, my family would be pleased.  We are crazy about shrimp and crazy about carbonara…so the marriage of the two is a household fave.  And bonus, it’s easy…and as a busy mom on a weeknight, I need easy.

Enjoy!

This recipe serves four.

Shopping List
1 pound of shrimp, not frozen (or make sure you defrost it if it was frozen)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
a pinch or so of crushed red pepper flake
salt and pepper
the zest and juice of one lemon
1 pound of pasta (we used linguine)
6 slices of bacon, chopped (I used turkey bacon)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
about 12 green onions, chopped (reserve some for garnishing at the end)
one cup of chicken stock
2 egg yolks
grated Parmesan cheese to garnish
chopped parsley to garnish

Preheat your grill pan, large skillet or outdoor grill to medium-high heat.

Take a large ziplock baggie and place all of your shrimp inside.  Next, add in a liberal drizzle of EVOO (about a quarter cup) followed by a pinch (or two depending on how hot you want it) of crushed red pepper flake, a big pinch of salt and pepper and the zest and juice of a lemon.  Seal the baggie up and toss everything around inside until you see that the shrimp has all been coated.  At this point, you want to cook up your shrimp either on a big grill pan (which is what I did), a large skillet, or the outdoor  grill.  One by one, place your shrimp down on the hot grill and cook each side about two minutes (it does not take long for the shrimp to cook).  Once the shrimp are cooked, place them in a bowl, cover and reserve them.

Bring a large pot of water up to a boil.  Drop your pasta down inside and cook until al dente (about 7 or 8 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute your chopped bacon in a drizzle of EVOO.  Once the bacon is crisp, add in your chopped garlic and most of your green onions (reserve some to garnish) and saute just a minute.  Next, slowly stir in your chicken stock and de-glaze your skillet (scrape the little bits off the bottom).  Reduce heat to low and allow everything to simmer a few minutes as the stock reduces down.  Next, add in your cooked shrimp that you have been reserving and toss everything together.  Now, drain all of the water from your pot of pasta except for a cup.  Reserve that cup of hot cooking water off to the side.  Add your hot pasta to the shrimp.

 In small bowl, whisk together your two egg yolks and then slowly pour your reserved water down into the eggs (do not place the eggs directly in your skillet or else they’ll scramble).  Continue to stir the hot water and yolks together.  After this, turn off the heat under your skillet and now pour this egg yolk mixture down over your shrimp and pasta and toss everything together.  At this point, I would probably add in a nice handful of Parmesan cheese here too.

Ladle a big portion of pasta and shrimp down on to each plate and then garnish with another sprinkle of Parm, a few more chopped green onions and some chopped parsley.

Dinner is done.  And it is SO GOOD!

So, don’t be alarmed because it looks like there are a bunch of steps here…but it is REALLY simple!  And really yummy too :).