Live the Live ™

This is not your average shrimp! Found in the Pacific, from Southern California all the way up to Alaska, as well as Japan and Korea, these beauties, identified by the white spots on the sides of their first and fifth abdominal segments, live up to 11 years. And here’s the crazy part: each spot prawn (or spot shrimp) spawns once as a male and one or more time as a female!

Having read so much about them, I ordered a pound and decided that I would get full use of the shrimp by peeling them and making an intensely flavored sauce out of the shells.

Peeling and deveining was easy: the shells slipped right off the shrimp, and they were so beautifully clean, their were no veins to remove!

If you can’t get  hold of Wild Pacific spot prawns, shrimp or lobster will certainly do. Just remember to ask your fishmonger for wild caught American shrimp, and not that horrible farmed stuff from Asia. If he doesn’t have it, shop elsewhere.

INGREDIENTS…

1 lb pasta

For the stock:

1 lb. wild Pacific spot prawns, thawed, peeled, and deveined. Save shells and container water, if any.

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 carrot

1/2 celery stalk

1/4 onion

1 smashed clove garlic

4 whole peppercorns

2 teaspoons ketchup

1/2 sprig rosemary

1/2 sprig thyme

6 cups water

For the shrimp:

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

4 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

The final touch:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, pushed through a garlic press

2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/8 cup fresh chives or scallions, finely chopped

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS…

For the stock:

Peel and devein shrimp. Keep peeled shrimp in the fridge, covered.

In a pot, heat the olive oil and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, peppercorns, ketchup, rosemary, thyme and shrimp shells. Saute for a few minutes to get the flavors going. Add container water, if any, and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 hours.

Strain solids out and discard. Place stock in a smaller pot, and continue reducing until about 1 cup of the stock remains.

Boil pasta and remove from water before al dente stage. (It will cook more later.) Strain and set aside.

For the shrimp:

Combine salt, pepper and sugar with the prawns in a bowl and toss to coat them evenly.

In a large saute pan, heat the butter and olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until lightly caramelized and almost cooked all the way through. Do not overcook! set aside.

The final touch:

In the same large saute pan, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and add the shallot. Saute for 1 minute, then add the garlic. Saute for 2 more minutes, then add some of the stock, the shrimp, the pasta, and the butter, and mix well. If dry, add more of the stock until the pasta is coated, but not dripping. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the chives.

Serve immediately!