A Whole Lot of S...

Shrimp and Squid Scampi Pasta

The stats of my life these days would reflect 80% work and 20% play. It seems desolate but honestly, it isn’t. As I see it, majority of what I do at work recently involves constant scampering to different tasks that can be physically strenuous at times, but can get really fun as well; what with all the free travels, opportunity to work with interesting people and of course being able to try a variety of food in the places I visit.

I am always grateful for the fact that development work has spawned useful skills in me that have become part of my everyday life. I’ve learned, among others, to see and value the singular in the plural - every single thing as unique on its own, a speck connected to other specks that make up a particular whole, which also forms part of a bigger dimension, and so on. Just like a single person in a community, and just like one custom in a diverse culture. As in cooking, every single ingredient makes up a whole dish. One ingredient can make all the difference, but we won’t know the difference unless it is mixed with all the other ingredients.














Whenever I cook pasta, it often makes me think what's in it that brings out my terrific lack of confidence in cooking it. In the past, I’ve rarely cooked it perfectly when it should always be, since it’s what makes a pasta dish a pasta dish in the pasta universe! But thanks for the inspiration from Ryan’s tuna lemon pasta, the pasta in this dish was just right. I didn't even have to throw it at anyone to check if it’s al dente.

The dish that I cooked for this episode is shrimp and squid scampi pasta, inspired by my boss Abe Padilla’s shrimp scampi pasta that I had the opportunity to taste during one of those glutonous meetings at their welcoming home in UP. This pasta dish is light and healthy, perfect for a hot summer afternoon at home. I contributed the Italian flag in this European-inspired banquet to celebrate Ning’s birthday.

To prepare for this dish, I asked Abe for his recipe, but realised I did not ask for the entire how-to-do-it process so I had to innovate. I ended up producing a recipe with my own twist (read: lucky maneuver) :

½ kg shrimp

½ kg squid

1 bundle spinach leaves

1 kg pasta 

1 small jar Black olives

1 small jar Capers

4 pieces lemons, 2 extra lemons for the condiment

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 garlic

2 cups olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 bundle parsley (Abe told me to get a flat one but only the curly ones are in the grocery store)

4 medium-sized shallots (native onions)

Grated parmesan cheese (amount as you like!)

Prepare the ingredients. Get the rind of 4 lemons (careful not to scrape the bitter white skin underneath). Mix the lemon rind with the olive oil. Clean and cut the squid, peel and devein the shrimp.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions in the packet. Always stir and check. Even if it still looks uncooked but already limp and evenly soft to the bite, it’s done. Drain and wash the noodles with cool water to prevent them from sticking together.

Sautee the onions, garlic, shrimp and squid together in a small amount of olive oil. Add ground black pepper and salt to taste. Pour in the rest of the olive oil with lemon rind, as well as the capers (whole) and black olives (sliced). Let it simmer, then combine the cooked pasta and squeeze the lemons onto it. Add more olive oil if needed. Mix well and turn off the stove. Add the spinach (whole leaves) and parsley (chopped) and let them cook from the heat of the dish.

Transfer the pasta to a big plate or bowl and sprinkle parmesan cheese and put fresh whole parsley on top to garnish. I also added dried chili on top for color.

For additional lemony taste, I prepared freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed with salt as condiment for the dish. You can add the juice according to taste.

This dish is a bit expensive to prepare, but P600 is not bad if it can make up to 10-15 servings. There were seven of us who attacked this dish for lunch, but still had left overs for dinner. The word scampi in Italian means prawns or shrimp prepared or cooked, but you can also try other ingredients such as scallops or fish, or exclude black olives and capers from the recipe to make it less costly. After all, we are the masters (or mistresses) of our own kitchen.

Bene! I understand better now that the way to cooking the pasta noodles is not only about following the instructions in the packet, but paying close attention while it's cooking. Just like how you want to learn about anything, everything.