Shrimp Fra Diavolo

This is a wonderful way to use up that half bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer, if you happen to have shrimp in the freezer.  If not, go out and buy some because shrimp cooks so quickly it makes a nice work day dinner.  I made it this week, using up my last jar of whole tomatoes from last year's garden.  However, you don't need home grown tomatoes to make this.  It will still be delicious with store bought canned tomatoes.

-1/2 to 1 pound of shrimp, or whatever you have in the house
-5 tablespoons olive oil
-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (this makes it a little hot--adjust the amount to the level of heat you like)
-4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (even more if you really like garlic)
salt
-1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes (drained), or whole tomatoes (drained and cut up), or crushed tomatoes, it really doesn't matter but it is good if the tomatoes are still chunky, as opposed to tomato sauce
-1 cup white wine if you have it, or 1 cup chicken broth, or water really
-1/4 cup fresh cut up parsley leaves, or a tablespoon of parsley flakes
-linguine or spaghetti

Cook the pasta in a large pot of water while you are cooking the shrimp.

For the shrimp:
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Toss the shrimp with half of the pepper flakes and 2 T oil.  Cook the oil and shrimp in the skillet until shrimp is opaque, maybe about two minutes, stirring to get both sides done.  Transfer the shrimp to a medium bowl and take the pan off of the heat to cool it down for 2 to 3 minutes (you want it cooler so the garlic doesn't burn when you put it in).  Have the tomatoes, spices, and wine ready to go.

Put the skillet back on the burner and turn the heat to low.  Put in 3 T oil and the garlic and cook while stirring until it is aromatic (maybe 4 to 5 minutes).  Watch the garlic so it doesn't burn.  Burned garlic will look brown and taste bitter.  Now put in the tomatoes, wine, sugar, 1/2 t salt, and the remaining pepper flakes.  Turn the heat up to medium and simmer until thickened slightly, about eight minutes.  Dump in the shrimp and heat through about a minute longer.

Serve the shrimp and sauce over the cooked pasta.  Yum!