Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Shrimp fra diavolo is devilishly spicy and delicious. The origins of this dish are disputed, some say it hails from Sicily while others maintain it is a purely Italian-American dish. Either way, this shrimp dish is so mouth-wateringly good that it deserves to be in your meal rotation. It is quite easy to prepare and very satisfying to eat. You can serve it with pasta, on rice, or plain with bread, regardless of how it is served it will not disappoint. Make it tonight!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb of shrimp with shells
4 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
14 oz of San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 cup of concentrated shrimp stock
1 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes*
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Small bunch of flat-leaf Italian parsley
Shrimp Stock Ingredients:
Shells from 1 lb of shrimp
1 cup of water
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Directions:
Peel and devein the shrimp, reserving the shrimp shells to make the shrimp stock.
Put a small stock pot on the stove and set it to medium-high heat.
Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil and when the oil is hot add the shrimp shells.
Let the shrimp shells develop a nice golden color, but do not let them burn. It is fine if little bits get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Once the shells have taken on some good color, pour the water into the pan.
Mix the water and the shrimp shells in the pan bringing up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Then set the heat to medium-low and let the shrimp stock simmer uncovered until it is reduced by about half (this usually takes about 20 minutes).
Taste the stock and add a little salt. The stock should not be overly salted because we will be adding salt to the fra diavolo sauce later on.
At this point, turn off the heat, and carefully pour the shrimp stock through a sieve or cheesecloth into a heatproof container.
Squeeze the shrimp shells so that any residual stock stuck in the shells gets collected.
Set the shrimp stock aside.
Finely mince the shallots and garlic.
Separate the thick parsley stems from the tender stems and leaves, and finely mince the parsley stems.
Set a wide skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
Add in the olive oil, shallots, parsley stems, and red pepper flakes.
Sauté until the shallots are translucent, then add in the garlic and oregano.
Sauté the garlic until fragrant about 1 minute.
Pour the wine in and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add in the tomatoes, the shrimp stock, and the salt.
Lower the heat to medium-low.
Mix everything together and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
Then add in the shrimp, and let them poach in the sauce for about 5 minutes until pink.*
Garnish with chopped parsley leaves.
Serve with pasta, rice, or crusty bread.
Enjoy!
Additional Notes:
*You may also fry the shrimp in the pan and then set them aside before you sauté the aromatics and then add them in after the sauce is cooked to reheat them. I prefer to poach the shrimp because it is the healthier option but do whatever suits your preferences.
*If you want a little kick but not too much heat use only 1 tsp of red pepper flakes.
