If you remember my recent post, I started rambling on about giant shrimp. I love shrimp but I always look for two things before buying them. They have to be big, bad ass shrimp and they can't have any sodium bisulfite added to them.
Sodium Bisulfite is a chemical that keeps the shrimp looking dapper for a longer time. The downside to this is that they taste like bleach, even after cooking and seasoning. Usually these SB free shrimp are a little pricier but well worth the extra dollars. So what did i do with my shrimp? I simmered them in a deep, dark tomato sauce filled with Pancetta and roasted garlic cloves, yes I did!
The idea came from an Italian restaurant I ate at recently. Aldo's in Santa Barbara serve a dish filled with calamari and it was so good I almost licked the damn plate. You should really try making a tomato sauce from scratch, I know there's so many choices on the shelves but it's easy, cheap and you'll feel all proud when you serve it. Double up this recipe for another time and mix it through some penne.
I used a 6 inch skillet for this recipe so it's like an appetizer that can be shared. I think roasting the garlic first made a difference, It's an extra step but you can't rush awesomeness, when those garlic cloves become golden and chewy you know we're not messing around. San Marzano Tomatoes are always my first choice because of their flavor. The problem is, they only come in large 28 ounce cans so you'll have some leftover after making this. Wait...you could just make it twice!
The tomatoes may come whole in the can. You can use your hands to crush them gently. There will be leftovers because the can size is 28 ounces. I use these tomatoes because I prefer the flavor, but if you don't wish to have any leftovers you can buy a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes instead and add all of it to the skillet.
