Sunday Special: Mediterranean Shrimp and Linguine

. Let me just get right to it: BEST dish I have made thus far.  And yes, 'BEST' deserved to be in larger font just so I would get my point across ☺

This Mediterranean Shrimp and Linguine dish [from my Taste of Home Cookbook] is so incredibly yummy, bursting with flavor from several types of herbs yet has a satisfying heartiness from the linguine and shrimp.  The mushrooms, artichoke hearts and olives are also wonderfully tasty elements that add a great saltiness.  I served this dish with slices of Tuscan bread [from the grocery store], which was basically plain white bread with a thick, crisp crust.  We both agreed that this was the best complement to the dish because it served as a great basic bread to dip in the herby sauce.  Mm! Mm! Mm!

This is one of those dishes (if it can make it that long without being consumed) that gets better as the days go on, giving the veggies a chance to blend with all of the herbs.  Serve it for dinner and look forward to an extra special lunch the next day!

I posted this recipe earlier in the day on purpose: to give you a chance to collect the ingredients and get cookin'!  If you do try this out, please let me know how you like it or if you tweaked a couple things to make it that much better (not quite sure if that's possible though...).  Oh, and this is a super quick make!  It really takes no time at all so don't worry about having to cook all day long, who wants to do that?! .    

Mediterranean Shrimp and Linguine

Ingredients:

9 oz. uncooked linguine

1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 (14 oz.) can water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and halved

1 (6 oz.) can pitted ripe olives, drained and halved

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Directions:

1. Cook linguine according to package directions.
2. In large nonstick skillet, saute shrimp and mushrooms in oil for 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, cloves, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and sauce is heated through.
3. Drain linguine; serve with shrimp mixture.

Nutrition Facts (1 cup shrimp mixture with 3/4 cup linguine): 328 calories; 9g fat (1g saturated fat); 112mg cholesterol; 748mg sodium; 41g carbohydrates; 3g fiber; 21g protein

*My Notes:

• Okay, the ONE error I made in this dish was actually kind of funny and I have to say that it wasn't my fault.  We all know I'm not a cook and I have definitely never handled shrimp before.  But while I was at the grocery store, I asked an employee about the shrimp and he kindly told me that I didn't need to do any kind of prep with it before throwing the shrimp into my dish.  So all in all, I never peeled the shrimp.  Uh, who knew?!  Because I for sure did not!  So the lesson here is that you DO need to take that little shell thing off of the shrimp before putting it in (and thank goodness they were already deveined).  Otherwise you'll have to do it before you dig in and that just wasn't very fun.