BBQ Shrimp Marinara

While on vacation we dined at a place in Rancho Mirage, California called Babe’s Bar-B-Que Brewhouse. We dined on the patio and started with their cast iron skillet of cornbread. My hubby decided to order the BBQ Tri-Tip sandwich that came with two sides. He loved their fries and baked beans. Because I only eat fish I was craving a salad and shrimp. There were no shrimp salad options and the chef really doesn’t make alterations to menu items. I decided to order a starter plate of the Nawlin’s Bar-B-Que Shrimp and a side wedge salad and create my own salad. The shrimp dish was quite intriguing.  It came in a hot metal pan with a red sauce. I could pull a few ingredients from it and decided to come home and make something similar. If you like BBQ and you like marinara sauce, you will really enjoy this. Serve it over pasta, on toasted slices of baguette, or on pizza.

P.S. I will be trying this recipe again very soon because I received some amazing tips from Chef Art at Babe's. Here are his suggestions:

"Add to your existing recipe: You want to use a canned "Crushed Tomato" in juice instead of paste. Your recipe looks good but,remove bbq sauce and add sherry wine, Apple cider vinegar, Butter,White pepper, cumin,dry thyme, paprika, allspice, dry mustard,Onion powder, chili powder, dash of cayenne, brown sugar (tip: mix all your dry spices together) and squeeze some lemon juice just before you remove it from the pan!" Enjoy, Art (Chef) from Babe's - 

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. scallions, minced

2 TBSP. Olive oil

1 – 2 cans (6 oz. each) Tomato Paste

12 ounces, water

1/2 cup Spicy BBQ Sauce

1/4 tsp. parsley flakes

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. Louisiana Style Cajun Seasoning

10-20 dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

Garnish: baby chives, minced

1 dozen large shrimps, deveined, rinsed and tails removed

Side Dishes: Farfalle cooked pasta noodles, fresh baguette loaf of bread and/or pizza dough

Directions:

In a large cast iron skillet add in your minced garlic, cloves, and olive oil and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until softened

Add in the water, tomato paste (one can for thinner consistency and 2 cans for a thicker marinara style), and BBQ Sauce

Once the sauce is smooth, add in the parsley, oregano, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook on simmer for 30 minutes

*Note: this is your sauce, be creative!  Make it spicy if you want spicier, and make it saltier if you want saltier

Fill a pot halfway with hot water, splash of olive oil, and sprinkle of salt. Bring to a boil, tossing in your dry pasta noodles and cooking until al dente, roughly 8-11 minutes tasting the noodles every minute to make sure they cook perfectly. Drain the water and Add in additional splash of olive oil, and stir the noodles

Slice up your baguette and lightly butter one side of each slice. Place them butter side up in the toaster oven or oven at 350 and bake for 5 minutes

In a small cast iron skillet, add in a little butter and once it is really hot add in your shrimp cooking them on each side about 2 minutes until they are no longer pink and look white

Serving Options:

Serve your marinara BBQ sauce over the pasta noodles, topping it with shrimp and fresh parmesan cheese

Add a dab of marinara BBQ sauce to each piece of toasted baguette and one shrimp serving as appetizer, lightly sprinkle diced chives over the top

Roll out pizza dough, spread on your marina BBQ sauce and top with cheeses and the shrimp baking it in the oven or cooking it over your outdoor barbecue

Inspired by: Babe’s Bar-B-Q Nawlin’s Bar-B-Que Shrimp small plate

http://www.babesbbque.com/menu.php