I love Chicken Cacciatore but I don't always want to go to the long process of making it. This is my recipe for a quicker Seafood Cacciatore that my family loves and is something just a little different from another chicken dish. Now don't get me wrong I can eat chicken just about every day of the week and be fine with it - it's so versatile, but my hubby likes a little beef or something different once in awhile. Which is kind of how I started making this version with shrimp, and it goes really well with my Obscene Bread that I posted about on my last post.
For this recipe you will need just a few ingredients, to serve 4 to 6 people (I like to have some for leftovers for lunch) 1 lb of raw, deveined shrimp (whatever size you like, I tend to use 26/30 for recipes like this - to make this an even faster recipe you could use already cooked shrimp - I prefer raw), 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 small onion, 1 & 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional), 2 to 3 large cloves of garlic, 2-15 oz cans of diced Stewed Tomatoes with garlic and Oregano, 1 small can of Tomato Paste, 1/2 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper to taste.
I think part of getting a meal on the table quickly is getting everything prepped, so you do not have to keep stopping to do some chopping or other task. You will need to rinse and peel the shrimp, dice the peppers, slice the onion into slivers, chop the garlic and slice the mushrooms if using. These steps can even be done the night before and covered tightly and placed in the fridge for a quick cook after work.
Here's a tip to cut up a pepper easily with no scooping of seeds! Just stand it on end and slice off into 4 sides leaving a "core", you can then also trim the bottom off and use it too. I then slice it into strips and cut to the desired size for my recipe.
Over med-high heat start heating your pan or skillet - I like to use my deep sided fry pan so I have room to stir, add the oil and the butter, and let the butter melt into the oil - give it a swirl a few times to keep it from burning.
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Next everybody into the pot! I do put my onions in first for a minute or so and let them start to get translucent then I add my peppers, mushrooms and the garlic last. Give everything a good stir to mix up. Another tip is to try to cut everything about the same size, it'll cook more evenly.
Let the veggies cook for a few minutes (stirring occasionally), while they're cooking open up the 2 cans of diced Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes and the can of Tomato Paste.
Pour the diced Tomatoes into the pan and then the Tomato Paste and stir, if sauce is too thick add a little water - if serving pasta with this dish a little pasta water works great.
After the veggies and sauce have cooked together for a few minutes add in your rinsed, shelled and deveined shrimp. Give the dish a good stir to get everything incorporated and let cook - stirring occasionally until the shrimp are pink (LOL, I know it's in red sauce) but about 5 to 7 minutes.
I like to serve this over Linguini or thin Spaghetti but it would be good over rice as well. And as I stated at the beginning my Obscene bread goes great with this dish or you could do garlic bread or toast. But you'll definitely want some type of bread to sop up the sauce - oh soooo good! I also like to top it with a little shredded Parmesan cheese.
This is such an easy meal to make and fairly light on calories too. Plus it heats up well for leftovers. I took some to work the next day - with some Obscene Bread of course and everyone in the lunchroom wanted to know what I had that smelled so good!
This is the season for Turkey and other heavy meals, if you're looking for something different and lighter give this recipe a try. You can change up the veggies too - I have used zucchini in this recipe too and it was wonderful! it's such a great way to get some seafood into your diet!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
For this recipe you will need just a few ingredients, to serve 4 to 6 people (I like to have some for leftovers for lunch) 1 lb of raw, deveined shrimp (whatever size you like, I tend to use 26/30 for recipes like this - to make this an even faster recipe you could use already cooked shrimp - I prefer raw), 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 small onion, 1 & 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional), 2 to 3 large cloves of garlic, 2-15 oz cans of diced Stewed Tomatoes with garlic and Oregano, 1 small can of Tomato Paste, 1/2 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper to taste.
I think part of getting a meal on the table quickly is getting everything prepped, so you do not have to keep stopping to do some chopping or other task. You will need to rinse and peel the shrimp, dice the peppers, slice the onion into slivers, chop the garlic and slice the mushrooms if using. These steps can even be done the night before and covered tightly and placed in the fridge for a quick cook after work.
Here's a tip to cut up a pepper easily with no scooping of seeds! Just stand it on end and slice off into 4 sides leaving a "core", you can then also trim the bottom off and use it too. I then slice it into strips and cut to the desired size for my recipe.
Over med-high heat start heating your pan or skillet - I like to use my deep sided fry pan so I have room to stir, add the oil and the butter, and let the butter melt into the oil - give it a swirl a few times to keep it from burning.
.
Next everybody into the pot! I do put my onions in first for a minute or so and let them start to get translucent then I add my peppers, mushrooms and the garlic last. Give everything a good stir to mix up. Another tip is to try to cut everything about the same size, it'll cook more evenly.
Let the veggies cook for a few minutes (stirring occasionally), while they're cooking open up the 2 cans of diced Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes and the can of Tomato Paste.
Pour the diced Tomatoes into the pan and then the Tomato Paste and stir, if sauce is too thick add a little water - if serving pasta with this dish a little pasta water works great.
After the veggies and sauce have cooked together for a few minutes add in your rinsed, shelled and deveined shrimp. Give the dish a good stir to get everything incorporated and let cook - stirring occasionally until the shrimp are pink (LOL, I know it's in red sauce) but about 5 to 7 minutes.
I like to serve this over Linguini or thin Spaghetti but it would be good over rice as well. And as I stated at the beginning my Obscene bread goes great with this dish or you could do garlic bread or toast. But you'll definitely want some type of bread to sop up the sauce - oh soooo good! I also like to top it with a little shredded Parmesan cheese.
This is such an easy meal to make and fairly light on calories too. Plus it heats up well for leftovers. I took some to work the next day - with some Obscene Bread of course and everyone in the lunchroom wanted to know what I had that smelled so good!
This is the season for Turkey and other heavy meals, if you're looking for something different and lighter give this recipe a try. You can change up the veggies too - I have used zucchini in this recipe too and it was wonderful! it's such a great way to get some seafood into your diet!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Making chicken cacciatori is a long process??? Obviously I do it wrong then.
ReplyDeleteI make something very similar to this and it's really yummy.
Good pepper tip.
Tanya I guess I think traditional Cacciatori is a long process because of cutting up the chicken, browning it and then it has to cook longer, even with peeling the shrimp this is much faster or I also use just the chicken breast, slice it thin and brown it for a quicker "traditional" Cacciatori. Either way it all taste yummy!
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