Thursday: Curried Pumpkin Soup, Spaghetti with Shrimp

I wanted soup and spaghetti last night, so soup and spaghetti I made.

We had a bag of already prepped CSA pumpkin in the freezer that I used to make the soup. My idea was to follow the butternut squash soup with chestnuts recipe from FStoS, but the pumpkin wasn't rich enough to stand up to that. So I added some butter, lemon, and curry powder and made a curried pumpkin soup instead. It wasn't great, but it was certainly worth eating.

The pasta and shrimp course was an invention, based on well-established principles:

2 Tbs good olive oil
1/2 cup good bread crumbs
3 shallots, diced
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 good pinch chili flakes
1/2 pound shelled large shrimp
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup dry, fruity white wine (e.g. CA Sauvignon Blanc)
chopped fresh parsley, as garnish
salt and pepper

Toast the breadcrumbs in the 2Tbs of oil until they start to smell toasty. Pour into a bowl.
Wipe out the pan, then add the remaining oil, the shallots, the chili flakes, and a pinch of salt.
Cook over medium heat until the shallots start to soften.
Increase the heat to medium high and add the shrimp. Cook on one side until the shrimp are pink, turn them.
Stir in the wine and lemon zest and let things cook until the wine has mostly evaporated.
Stir in half the breadcrumbs and however much pasta water you need to get the consistency you want (it shouldn't be wet). Adjust seasonings.
Serve over spaghetti, topped with parsley and more breadcrumbs.

This was very tasty. I had intended to add some lemon juice as well, but I forgot to do so. The wine (Mauritson's Sauvignon Blanc) was citrusy and acidic enough that this was no problem at all. :-)