This is the second of the recipes I found from a bunch of old La Cucina Italiana magazines I got at our LA Food Bloggers Christmas party last December. I thought it would be fun to take a few and play with them. As it’s winter and cold for most parts of the country, I thought this would be a nice “comfort food” type dish for you all to make. (It is January 29th and 86 degrees here in sunny Southern California. Even I’m jonesing for a sweater!) I did change it a bit, for a number or reasons.
Reading it, I loved all the ingredients. Shrimp, chickpeas and potatoes. What could be bad? Well—-it’s not the most colorful of dishes.
Luckily, the shrimp had a little orange and I used red potatoes. Otherwise, beige with more beige. And there was NO green in this dish, so I added some roasted broccolini with a little olive oil and balsamic. You can add your own green to it. Or have a salad on the side. Also, it’s not the easiest dish to photograph-especially when you’re not the world’s best food photographer. Cathy, any tips?
HOWEVER…..all that being said, it’s really a tasty dish! I marinated the shrimp in marsala wine for about an hour. This wasn’t in the original recipe, and adds a ton of flavor. I also started with canned chickpeas, as the original started with dried. Who has that kind of time?! The way I did it, the flavors came out beautifully, so I’m happy. The onions and bay leaf adds lots of flavor-I’d even use this as a dip with sliced vegetables!
With these changes, actual cooking time is only about an hour, but leave time for marinating. Enjoy!
Chickpea Puree with Marsala Shrimp and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Marsala wine
- 2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cans of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 Cup plus 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped roughly
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 Cup white wine
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, quartered
- 2 tbsps unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place shrimp in glass bowl and pour in 1/2 cup of Marsala wine. Let marinate for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- In a large saucepan, add 2 tbsps of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and bay leaf, and cook 3-4 minutes, until translucent. Add white wine and stir. Cook another 2 minutes and add chickpeas. Add 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir and lower heat to med-low for about 15-20 minutes, or until onions are well cooked. Set aside and let cool for 5 minutes. Then puree in food processor with 1/4 cup of olive oil until smooth.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the potatoes and the rest of the Marsala wine. Add water to cover potatoes by 1 inch.
- Over medium-high heat, boil potatoes until just tender, 20-25 minutes. Add butter and salt to taste and cook 2 minutes more.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to serving plates.
- In a large skillet, heat remaining 1 1/2 tbsps of oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp in one layer and cook, turning once, until opaque and cooked through. About 5 minutes.
- Divide shrimp and serve with puree.
The dish sounds delicious. Something as simple as sprinkling cracked pepper on the top of the shrimp could add visual interest. Or, what about some freshly chopped herbs such as parsley (no cilantro) or chives on top of your shrimp dish.
If you wanted to be fancy….you could place your chickpea puree on your plate in a long rectangular shape, sprinkle with fresh herbs and then place the shrimp tail up in a row.
Herbs and seasoning can make or break a plate visually. Let your head go! 🙂