Our New Year’s Day Dinner.

Simple and simply delicious!

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

• Kosher salt
• 1ound long pasta, such as linguine, fettuccine or spaghetti
• 1ound large peeled and deveined shrimp (18 to 20 count), tails on or off
• 4ablespoons unsalted butter
• 3ablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼up thinly sliced garlic (about 7 cloves)
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• A handful of asparagus, rinsed and cut into 1 inch lengths
• ¼teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more to taste
• ½cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
• ⅓cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving
• Lemon zest, for serving

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. Scoop out ½ cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta in a colander and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel and season with ½ teaspoon salt. In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the tomatoes have burst, 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the wine and reserved pasta water, bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, until slightly reduced. Stir in the asparagus and shrimp and cook until the shrimp are just starting to turn opaque, about 3 minutes. Pour the sauce and the shrimp over the pasta and toss well. Add the parsley and toss again.
4. Transfer the pasta to bowls. Top with the lemon zest and more parsley. Sprinkle on more crushed red pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Based on a recipe from The New York Times Cooking.

Dinner was preceded with a favorite appetizer–Stuffed Artichokes.

Here is a basic and simple recipe for 2:

1/2-1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2-1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves; 2 whole and 1 chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

(We also add cooked sausage or ground meat (if we have it around). I added ground turkey to these.

2 artichokes, trimmed, left whole, chokes removed (put 1/2 of lemon juice into each cavity)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Par-boil artichokes (I do this for about 30 minutes). Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, meat (if adding meat) and oil in medium bowl.  Mix in lemon juice, oregano, parsley, chopped garlic and lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper. Place 1 whole garlic clove into each artichoke cavity. Stuff artichokes (Do this by putting stuffing between leaves and into cavity). Bake in tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water till tender.