Shrimp Spaghetti Marinara

I work at an Italian restaurant and the other day I had some customers who came in who I seriously thought were food critics. The woman ordered spaghetti marinara and added shrimp and I thought I was going to throw up thinking about how absolutely disgusting it sounded. And then I saw the dish! You wanna talk about some delicious looking food? Yeah, it looked awesome. I then started talking to my customers about the dish and how good it looked when the lady told me that she makes this at home quite frequently. Of course, being the foodie I am, I started thinking of ways that I could make marinara at home.

Yesterday, my brain started going ninety to nothing on how I was going to pull of Shrimp Spaghetti Marinara. I looked through about 20 different recipes to try to find something I wanted and was getting frustrated because I couldn't find anything I liked. Like always, I got frustrated with it and decided to wing it. I was impressed with my outcome.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb spaghetti pasta

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 lbs uncooked shrimp

1 28 oz can peeled plum shaped tomatoes (diced tomatoes are fine too)

1 28 ox can puree tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 onion diced

1 tsp cayenne pepper

parsley

oregano

basil

salt

pepper

a couple of splashes of Frank's Hot Sauce


PREPARATION:

I started by sauteing my onions in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I let the onions sauteing for about a minute and a half before adding the garlic to saute. Once I threw in my garlic I let that saute for about another minute and a half. 

Once the onions and garlic were sauteed enough, I added the entire can of peeled tomatoes, about 3/4 the can of pureed tomatoes, and the entire can of tomato sauce. I then smashed up all of the whole tomatoes (which is why I say you can use diced tomatoes. I only used the whole tomatoes because they were Italian style). to where the sauce was a little clumpy, but not too much. 

Next, I added my spices and lots of olive oil. I don't know exactly how much basil, oregano, and parsley I used, but I expect it to be about 1 tablespoon or basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of parsley, and about 1/2 a teaspoon of oregano. The cayenne pepper is optional, but I wanted a spicy marinara so I made I added a lot.

Once I got my sauce to the flavor I liked, I let it simmer for about an hour. I tasted it quite frequently because when simmering, the flavors settle and I had to just the spices more to my liking.

About 3/4 of the way through simmering, I started sauteing my shrimp. I sauteed the shrimp in a few tables spoons of olive oil with salt and garlic added.

Once my shrimp was done I added it to the sauce. I wouldn't do this again though because the sauce had a fishy flavor to it. Next time I will keep the shrimp separated and save the marinara for other things. I really like my marinara and I will definitely be making it again. Even Stacy thought it was really good, and he doesn't even like spicy food.

Here is my finished product. I'm extremely satisfied with the way it turned out and I will be making this again without the shrimp (because Stacy doesn't like seafood). I will also be using this marinara in other dishes and I'm very excited that it turned out so well on my first time making it!!!

Happy eating!