Girl Makes Shrimp Scampi on Couscous

This week I'm bringing back a feature we used to post weekly here on girl meets home -- "Girl Makes [insert recipe]." In this economy, who isn't cooking at home more often in an effort to save money and be healthy? I thought this would be a neat little way to share our favorite healthy (or semi-healthy) recipes.

Last night this "girl" made Shrimp Scampi on Couscous, courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis. We have all of her books...I think the fascination originally started on Christian's end because he thinks she's hot. From my perspective, this woman can cook and her recipes make it so easy for us mere mortals to be superstars in the kitchen.

This is one of my favorite recipes right now. Essentially a three-part process, I recommend this for weekend dining, or weeknights when you're feeling a little more ambitious.

Of course, I began making this dish by prepping all of my veggies and gathering all other ingredients.

Then I heated a large saucepan on medium heat, and poured in 1/4 cup of olive oil. Once the olive oil was heated through -- give it a minute or two -- add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Saute for about five minutes.


Here are the veggies after five minutes:


Add the diced tomatoes (1-15 oz. can will work for this recipe), the clam juice and white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer on Low for about 10 minutes.


Here's the sauce after 10 minutes.


Remove the sauce from heat. Carefully add the sauce to a blender and puree.


The recipe calls for using a food processor to puree the sauce, but I used my blender; I figured it would be easier to pour once combined.


Add two cups of the sauce back to the saucepan. Leave the remaining sauce in the blender -- you'll use it later to top the dish once it's plated.

Then add one cup of water and a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring it the a boil.


Once it's boiling, stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside until the couscous absorbs the liquid...about 10 minutes.


In a large skillet or saute pan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add the raw shrimp and saute until pink..about 5 or 6 minutes.


Once cooked, remove from the heat, add the freshly-squeezed lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt, and parsley (optional if you don't have it on hand).


At this point, your couscous should be ready, and everything's ready to serve!


Scoop some couscous onto your plate, add shrimp (don't forget the scampi sauce in the pan!), and top with the leftover tomato sauce in your blender. Voila -- now you're ready to enjoy!


$$ Tip: Don't forget -- any leftovers will make a great lunch or two over the next two days.