Shrimp Scampi Ravioli

I bought some fantastic looking organic 4-cheese ravioli this week, and really didn't want to top it with a red sauce-- I needed something special.

My four year old has decided he "loves shrimp" (that's American for "prawns"). He especially likes prawn crackers, which I had never seen prior to living in Australia-- but we can expand on his ravenous appetite for those another day.

Anyway, I decided I wanted to make a shrimp scampi style concoction to put over the designer ravioli. Don't you just love it when you throw something together and it all works out like it's supposed to.

And I was very happy with the way this came out because a) it was really fast b) it was really good c) my husband and kids loved it. I actually think this would be an excellent meal to serve for a dinner party if you are cooking everything yourself because it all came together so quickly, and with such ease.

Here's what I did:

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: (including boiling water for pasta) 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. (1/2 kilo) cooked peeled shrimp- tails off, rinsed, & chopped into large pieces
  
• 2 large handfuls fresh spinach- chopped
• 4-7 garlic cloves- cut in thick slices
• Garlic powder or granulated garlic
  
• Olive oil -approximately 1/4 cup-1/3 cup
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Splash of white wine
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 handful Parmesan cheese - grated or shredded + a little extra to use when serving
• Ravioli or pasta of your choice

Tip:

• It's best to take tails off shrimp (I cut the shrimp in thirds- my feeding toddlers mentality- but I highly endorse it for anyone), slice garlic, & chop spinach before doing anything else, with everything pre-prepped the sauce cooks in about 10 minutes
  

Technique:

1. Start a large pot of water boiling for the pasta-- you should probably start cooking the sauce when you add the pasta to the water-- the sauce will probably about the same time to cook as the pasta- give or take a couple minutes
   
2. Put chopped shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with garlic powder or granulated garlic
   
3. In a large nonstick pan warm olive oil and butter on medium low heat
   
4. When oil and garlic are warm add the sliced garlic, reduce heat to low, and cook for about 5 minutes
5. Using a slotted spoon (unless you have a better method), remove garlic slices and save them for use later in the process
6. Add a splash of white wine to the pan
7. Add the frozen peas to the pan and let pan heat up again- about 1 minute
   
8. Add chopped cooked shrimp and chopped spinach to pan and mix thoroughly
9. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. of a good salt over the top and stir (if in Australia, I prefer Murray River Pink Salt-- I just it's amazing)
10. When spinach is wilted/ cooked, using a garlic press- squeeze the cooked garlic into the pan and stir
11. Add handful of Parmesan cheese, stir thoroughly and turn off heat
12. Serve shrimp over pasta and top with reserved Parmesan cheese
    

You may (or may not) understand how satisfying it is when my picky three year old (not to be mistaken for my gourmet eating four year old),-- wolfs down a nice size bowl of this. Um, did I mention he normally only eats dinner if it's macaroni & cheese or chicken schnitzel (for my American friends, chicken schnitzel is to Australia, what chicken nuggets are to America).

And here's the four year old who loves sushi, tandoori chicken, and sweet chili sauce on everything. Notice the pretend Parmesan cheese, he insisted on serving everyone some.