When it comes to his recipes, renowned British cook and author Nigel Slater keeps it simple and straightforward: Shrimp, Linguine, Dill, or Artichokes and Cannellini. There’s much more his recipes, but Slater is anything but verbose. He steers clear of fluff and complexities and delivers joy, comfort, and dreamy combinations of flavor you simply cannot wait to try. Best of all, you'll have yourself saying I can totally do that!
Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food, his latest and instant best-selling cookbook, is a collection of 600 fast and easy recipes (all perfect for weeknight dinners) that are big on quality and taste. Each recipe is short (just 5-12 lines) and contain a brief shopping list. Some recipes even include his thoughts on the dish, such as swapping out ingredients for those you have on hand or what’s in season, or a variation or two.
How’d you like to pull up to a plate of Lamb Shanks with Crushed Roots? Perhaps warm dish of Root Vegetable Tangle, a glorious mess of rosemary-scented potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and onions, with pumpkin seeds tossed in for a bit of crunch. Tonight we’re sidling up to a comforting bowl of the aforementioned Shrimp, Linguine, Dill with dry vermouth, oil, lemon, and garlic. Though he features this as a summer recipe we'll use tiny Oregon Bay shrimp which are available year-round and at an affordable price.
Shrimp, Linguine, Dill
Shrimp, linguine, dill, garlic, dry vermouth, lemon
From Eat, page 205
Put a large pan of water on to boil, then salt it generously. When the water boils, add 7 ounces (200g) linguine. Cook for the time given on the package, about 8 minutes.
Peel and crush 2 medium cloves of garlic. Put 5 tablespoons of oil in a small pan, add the garlic, and fry briefly till soft, then add 7 ounces (200g) raw brown or other small shrimp and a large handful of chopped dill. Season with black pepper, salt, the grated zest and juice of a lemon, and a tablespoon of Noilly Prat or other dry vermouth. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
Drain the linguine, add the shrimp mixture, and toss them gently together.
For 2. Light Lunch. Summer flavors. The fun of little shrimp and dill.
Editorial disclosure: Foodista received this book from Blogging for Books for review.
