Ain't Nobody Got Time for That

Brian and I have a tradition of sitting down on New Year's Eve and writing out lists of goals for the new year.  It has to be one of my all time favorite things to do. I love to set goals.  One of my goals for the year was to try one idea from Pinterest each week.  I figured if I'm going to spend all the time pinning things, then I should actually try to take the time to follow up on all the amazing ideas I see.  This has led to a variety of new recipes, craft projects, random cleaning experiments, and a few tough treadmill workouts.

Recently, I came across a recipe on Pinterest called "Greek Baked Shrimp with Feta and Garlic."  Instantly, I remembered this delicious Greek Shrimp Pasta that I used to order at my favorite little restaurant, Kona, from my graduate school days.  I pinned the recipe to take a look at later.  When I did, I fond that it called for a splash of some random ingredient called ouzo (or mastic liqueur).  I'm not really sure what ouzo is and, in the words of my favorite Internet sensation, Sweet Brown, "ain't nobody got time for that."  I hate to have to buy something that I will only need a "splash"of, so I decided to take a stab at recreating the recipe myself based on my memory of it.  The result was AMAZING.  I was transported back twelve years to the sleepy, little town of Oxford.

It really wouldn't be fair to keep this all to myself, so here is the recipe!  I do have to say that I am a bit of an intuitive cook and I don't really measure anything, but these are pretty good guesses.  The picture may not be that appetizing because we'd already helped ourselves before I thought about capturing this dish!  Brian and I loved it and the girls liked it as well.  Charlotte, who spoiled her lunch by eating half a bag of cheese balls that she bought at the Dollar Tree with her allowance, was really annoyed with the rest of us for going on and on about this dish that she was too sick to eat!

Kristina's Greek Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients
1 pound of shrimp, peeled and rinsed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 cup of onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 1/2 cups of grape tomatoes
1 pound of linguine noodles

The topping doesn't take long, so when you are putting the pasta in to boil, start the rest!

Saute the onion and garlic in a skillet in about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil until the onions are beginning to get translucent. Then, toss the tomatoes into the pan.  After a few minutes, you'll notice the tomatoes beginning to turn a different color.  When this happens, use a fork to poke holes in some of the tomatoes to release the juices.  Then, toss in the shrimp and cook until it is pink.  Sprinkle on the oregano, salt, and pepper and stir a good bit to keep stuff from sticking to the pan.    

About this time, your pasta should be finished.  Drain the pasta and reserve just a tad bit of water - maybe 1/8 cup.  Then, dump the pasta in the skillet with the shrimp and tomato mixture.  Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the hot pasta and toss it all together to coat and mix up the ingredients.  Top with 1/2 cup of feta cheese (more if you like) and serve!