Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Tomatoes

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Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Tomatoes is all the colors of the Italian flag in one bowl. Simple to prepare, bursting with flavors.

Over the last month I’ve gotten very behind on blog posts. I’ve been switching blog platforms, and traveled for several days to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I got back on track, but chose to focus solely on catching up on all the restaurants we visited while my parents were in town. Great for restaurant posts, but that eliminated 1/3 of the purpose of the blog. Besides, I’m back to cooking every day, and of course finding new recipes on Pinterest regularly. So I had to shift some of that focus back to recipes.

I had taken out shrimp for dinner last night, and had a plan of what to make. But when I logged onto Pinterest to find the recipe, I lost my motivation and looked for an alternative. That seems to happen to me a lot, which makes menu planning a challenge. Also, whenever you get onto Pinterest there are always a million new recipes that catch your eye. So unless you are seriously targeted and go straight to what you’re looking for, you will very easily get distracted. I eventually came across Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Tomatoes. I’ve made this recipe before, even prior to starting the blog. It is just one of many recipes that I’ve made, but have yet to post about

One bite of this Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Tomatoes, and I can’t for the life of me imagine why I don’t make this more often. It’s so simple to make, and is absolutely bursting with flavors. I don’t normally like cooked chunks of tomatoes, but something about them cooking in wine makes such a difference. The garlic adds a huge punch of flavor. At first I thought it might be too much because, as usual, I minced up too much of it. But I mix raw and roasted garlic together, and cooking it in the wine significantly mellows the bite of the raw garlic.

I’m a big fan of pine nuts, and often add them to dishes because they add a very nice crunch and nuttiness. When you’re toasting pine nuts, you have to pay close attention or they will burn. They don’t take long to toast, and once they start burning it’s too late. I’ve never done that before…until last night. I actually burned 2 sets, which annoyed me even more because pine nuts are expensive. I finally got them right on the 3rd try.

Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Tomatoes needs to go back on my regular recipe rotation for sure.

Adapted from Serious Eats