Shrimp Provençal

Shrimp provençal is a wonderful meal for Christmas Eve.

Shrimp Provençal: Just Sounds Fancy

Sounds fancy but it’s really easy!

“Provençal” just means “provincial.” While it may take on other meanings at times, in cooking that just means that it contains tomatoes and garlic. Simple as that.

This is a wonderful dish to serve on Christmas Eve as one of the “seven fishes.” It’s an Italian tradition to do fish on Christmas Eve, hence, the “seven fishes.” I grew up with this and even though I don’t have an Italian background, lots of my friends did. I used to love going over on Christmas Eve to share that tradition since I love fish and shellfish.

Tomatoes Fresh Or Canned

Fresh tomatoes work perfectly in this dish. You will have to skin, seed and juice them first though.

Everyone who follows me knows I recommend using fresh ingredients when it comes to veggies and herbs–except here I recommend using canned diced tomatoes; and definitely the fire roasted variety especially. The fire roasted ones give this just the flavor it needs. Do remember to drain the juice from the can otherwise the sauce will be too watery. Save that juice though. It can be used in soups, stews and many other recipes.

The Pasta

I used ziti here because I had some I wanted to use up. Any pasta shape will do here unless it’s huge, like rigatoni for instance.

This would even be nice served with spaghetti, fettuccine or linguine. Use what you have because it will work!

The only thing to keep in mind is remembering that the casserole is going to cook in a sauce so you want the pasta to be a bit under-done so it’s perfect after baking. Boiling it for about 2 minutes less than the package directions will be best.

The Recipe

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Shrimp Provencal & Ziti

Tasty and filling shrimp and pasta casserole

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lenten meals, shrimp casseroles, shrimp with pasta and tomatoes

Servings: 6

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked ziti or penne
• 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced
• 3 tbs unsalted butter divided
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp dill weed
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes drained
• 1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Cook ziti about 2 minutes less directions state; drain and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Heat a large, deep oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and 1 tbs of the butter and heat until butter is bubbly.
• Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the shrimp, parsley and dill. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Remove the shrimp from the pan and keep warm.
• In the same pan, melt the remaining butter. Whisk in the flour and stir until no lumps remain. Cook for 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Whisk in the half-and-half and cook until it begins to bubble.
• Add the drained tomatoes, lemon juice, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.
• Stir in the reserved shrimp and cooked ziti. Top with mozzarella cheese.
• Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Notes

For EU/UK readers--"half-and-half" is an American dairy product which is 50% whole milk and 50% light/single cream. Whole (full-fat) milk can be substituted as stated in the recipe.

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