Summer and seafood go hand in hand. I can’t imagine a summer trip to the beach without visiting a rundown crab shack that spreads brown paper out on the tables, then piles them high with steamed blue crabs and boiled shrimp.
We often recreate our summer crab shack experiences by throwing a Low Country Boil for friends and family. Shrimp, crabs, smoked sausage, new potatoes and corn boil together in huge pot on an outdoor cooker. Several summers ago, after a weekend low country boil left me with extra cooked shrimp, I came up with this simple uncooked sauce for pasta. The leftover peeled shrimp are combined with diced tomatoes, minced garlic, hearts of palm, capers, oil and vinegar and coarsely shredded Parmesan. The dish is good warm, right after tossing, and also makes a great cold pasta salad.
When you don’t have a surplus of boiled shrimp on hand, simply have your supermarket peel and steam your shrimp for you. Or, serve a meal of boiled shrimp one night and cook enough shrimp to create this quick pasta the next. The ingredients can be varied, as I developed the recipe using what I had on hand. Canned diced tomatoes can replace the fresh, artichoke hearts can substitute for the hearts of palm and crumbled feta cheese can stand in for the Parmesan.
Makes 6 servings.