Fettuccine al Barese

Sami and I had a big Sunday lunch with some American professors who live in Paris, and this was the main course. Shrimp, butter, garlic, pasta--how can you go wrong? This took about 15 minutes to put together and was much appreciated, though the baked Mont d'Or cheese and the raspberry brownies afterwards rather outshone it...

This recipe is adapted from Joyce Goldstein's Mediterranean Kitchen. The original recipe calls for 2 T. olive oil plus 3 T butter per person. That just seemed a bit excessive. If you want "restaurant-strength" sauce, go ahead and use 12 T. butter and 1/2 c. olive oil.

Fettuccine al Barese

2 T. olive oil

1 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined

Salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. dried red pepper flakes (more if you feel like it)

1/2 c. white wine

12 oz. fresh fettuccine (you can usually buy this in the deli section of your grocery store)

4 T. lemon juice (that's about 1-1/2 large lemons)

6 T. butter, cut into pieces

Start a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and cook them until they're just pink. Remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon and throw in the garlic and pepper. Stir that around for a minute, then add the wine and let it cook down by about half. At this point, you should probably be throwing the pasta in the water and cooking it according to package directions. When the wine has cooked down, add the shrimp, lemon juice, and butter and stir until the butter is melted and the sauce has thickened a bit. Drain the pasta and toss with the shrimp sauce. Serve with a green salad and some bread to soak up the buttery goodness. Serves 4.