Pan-Fried Shrimp with Little Green Lentils and a Bright Green Sauce (p. 383)

Supper Club was this past week and the theme was "Classy" so I wanted to do a delicious and filling main dish that was also a little fancy. I had a lot of trouble finding something to make that fit all these requirements and that could be completed in the hour and 20 minutes I had between work and supper club. This recipe actually called for haddock, but I couldn't find any, so I supplemented with the shrimp instead.

So, here we go. Combine olive oil and chopped pancetta in a very large saucepan and cook until the fat begins to run from the meat. Add chopped yellow onion and celery and continue cooking until the veggies are very soft but not brown.

Once the vegetables have softened completely, add rinsed lentils along with rosemary and a dried chili pepper. Mix these ingredients together with the olive oil-y vegetable-y mix and then add water, covering the lentils by about an inch.

Bring the dish to a low simmer and cover the pan until the lentils are tender, around 30 minutes.

The "Bright Green Sauce" mentioned in the title of the recipe is similar to a pesto -- just add parsley, basil, and olive oil to a food processor and process until the sauce is a uniform smooth consistency.

Lastly, prepare the shrimp by tossing them lightly in flour that has been combined with some salt and pepper, shaking off the loose flour, and sautéing the shrimp quickly in olive oil on each side, so that they are lightly browned all over.

To serve, arrange the lentils on a platter, top with the shrimp, and then spoon the lovely green sauce over the top of everything.

Yum! This was super delicious and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. The shrimp was so lightly fried that it was still really tender, and the basil sauce added a great flavor to the whole dish.

basil -- $2.99

parsley -- $1.69

rosemary -- $2.99

pancetta -- $3.99

onion -- $.71

celery -- $1.69

shrimp -- $21.82

Total Cost of Pan-Fried Shrimp with Little Green Lentils and a Bright Green Sauce: $35.88

(This was by far and away my most expensive dish to date, but I was cooking for 12 and we still had leftovers.)