Farfalle with Blackeyed Peas, Mushrooms, and Shrimp

This is a hodge-podge recipe I put together from 2 recipes in "America's Test Kitchen: Winter 2010."

4 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped

500 g fresh mushrooms, sliced thin

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (16 oz) can blackeyed peas, rained and rinsed

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

Salt & Pepper

1 large bunch fresh broccoli

500 g shrimp, deveined (and if frozen, thawed)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1/4 tsp salt (as needed)

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

500 g farfalle pasta

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over med-hi heat until crisp, roughly 5 min. Remove and set on a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but a Tbsp of fat from the pan; add up to 1 Tbsp olive oil, if needed. Add mushrooms and cook over medium heat for 5 min, stirring frequently. Remove and set aside, covered with foil to keep warm.

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Wipe out skillet (there should be no oil left in the pan). Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over med-hi heat. Add onion and cook for 3 min until softened. Add minced garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add beans and broth and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 min.

In a separate skillet, sautee shrimp and sliced garlic in 2 Tbsp olive oil for 3 min. Add lemon juice and cook an addition 1-2 min, or until shrimp are pink. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the instructions on the box. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Immediately add bean and onion mixture, and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and toss well. Add shrimp and toss well. Sprinkle chopped bacon on individual servings.

Serve with steamed broccoli and crusty bread.

Makes 4 servings.

NOTES:

(a) This is an easy dish to amend based on the ingredients you have. If you don't like or don't have shrimp, use 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed. Cook as you would the shrimp (though an additional 2-3 min might be necessary to cook the meat through), and omit the lemon juice.

(b) Really any beans can be substituted in (I just happened to have an excess of pre-soaked blackeyed peas, so they made the cut!). Cannellini or green peas would work just fine. My blackeyed peas were cooked with bacon in salted water; the bacon is a welcome addition for flavor and the pre-salted beans meant I didn't need to add salt. To each his own.

(c) To make this vegetarian and vegan friendly is a snap. Obviously omit bacon (and anything cooked in bacon) and shrimp, substitute chickpeas or 2 cups cooked brown lentils for the beans (a better source of protein) and substitute vegetable broth/bullion for the chicken broth.

(d) If you're serving this for guests, be aware of the colors in the dish. You want ingredients to contrast with the color of the pasta, so if you're using a white bean (cannellini, chickpea), add a chopped red bell pepper to the onion, or 1-2 finely diced, de-seeded red chillies. If you use green peas, try steaming 2 sliced carrots on the side. Get creative and use whatever's in your fridge!