Recipe 43: Baked Shrimp with Zucchini and Much Cheese

You know what is hard?  Naming recipes.  And yet, making a quickie recipe is not terribly hard.  Seems kind of bass ackwards, no?  Judging from this being my second shrimp recipe in a row, the interwebs brain-trust can probably figure out that I bought a 3 bag o'frozen shrimp to keep my 3 pound bag o'frozen blueberries company in the freezer.  I've been thinking about making something not soup (gasp) in Le Creuset for a while.  Since I didn't want to feed a small army, I chose to use my smaller Le Creuset, Triple B.  (Which retrospectively is kind of a stupid name.  If you have a better one, because Little White sounds kind of awful and that's all I got, lay it on me.)  This was a great success, but then again I'm pretty sure throwing tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and cheese in a pot and baking it will taste delicious, no exceptions.  I get the distinct feeling you can add or subtract anything you want to this; I actually intended to add a can of cannelini beans but cleverly forgot until I'd put it in the oven.  As is, this recipe has a lot of extra liquid, but it thickens a bit as it cools.  I'd recommend serving it over polenta, pasta or even rice (whatever your starchy poison is) or doing like I did and tearing up some bread and stirring it into my bowl to soak up the delicious.

Baked Shrimp with Zucchini and Much Cheese
(via my brain, courtesy of my stomach)
Serves approximately 4

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small white onion, chopped

1 large zucchini (or half of a large zucchini and half of a large yellow squash, or a whole small of each; I like color)

1/2 cup white wine

1 14-15oz can fire roasted tomatoes, with liquid

1 tsp Italian mixed spices (or dash oregano, parsley, basil)

1/2 tsp cayene (or less if you do not like spice)

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

10-12 oz shrimp, peeled, deveined and detailed (as in no tails, obvi)

1 - 2 Tbsp(s) chevre

1/2 cup grated mozzarella 

1 Tbsp parmesan (plus more to serve)

Directions:

I am not a good photographer of food, sigh.

1. Preheat oven to 400 C.  Add oil to a small (3.5 Qt.) dutch oven and heat over medium-high.  Add garlic and saute for a minute or two, until garlic darkens slightly.
2. Add onion and saute two minutes.  Stir occasionally.
3. Add zucchini and sautee, stirring occasionally but allowing the zucchini to get a bit browned, approximately 5 minutes.  
4. Add wine and turn up heat to high to allow the mix to bubble for about a minute, reducing the liquid slightly.
5. Add tomatoes and cook on high, stirring until liquids are incorporated.  Season with spices.
6. Stir in the shrimp and cook for approximately two minutes (do not cook fully).
7. Sprinkle cheeses over the top of the pot and place uncovered into the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until cheese just begin to bubble and brown, and the sauce bubbles around the edges.
8. Let cool 5-10 minutes and serve with your starch o'choice!