Namibia is an arid country in southwest Africa not known for pasta, so why am I writing about pasta and Namibia? This creation came to me while I was collecting data for my dissertation on the Namibian education system in Windhoek, Namibia. As an aside, I've included a picture from Windhoek, the capital, and rural Ovamboland in the north. Life varies dramatically between city life and rural communities, including food consumption.
While there is ranching of cattle, sheep and some goats, there is little beyond subsistance agriculture. The traditional rural Namibian diet is mealie (a maize porridge) and meat. In the more affluent cities, the favorite meals of both the white and black peoples in southern Africa is the braai - a meal of various grilled meats - and lots of it. The most comical statement I ever heard during my winter stay in Africa was at a braai when, in response to my question of why they didn't eat many vegetables or salads, the gentleman responded, "Oh my dear, it's winter, it's far too cold to eat salad." This was while dining al fresco on a beautiful starry African night.
I lived in a study center that had a small rudimentary kitchen and I was on a limited budget. My own dinners at the study center had to be on a slightly tighter budget than those of local officials with whom I dined on occasion. The things I could get cheaply at the grocery store and could cook easily in a kitchen without many accessories were the focus of my cooking in those months. Not being a fan of mealie, I went for dried pasta, an almost universally inexpensive starch. I added to this leeks, avocados, tomatoes, and seasonings with a splurge on good butter. The dish turned out tasty and I ended up existing on it fairly regularly during my time there. So, I share it with you - with the addition of one of my favorite ways to cook shrimp, since now I can afford to add meat to the dish! My Namibian friends would be crushed that I didn't add red meat, but basil is growing out of control on my deck and shrimp goes so well with it.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried spaghetti (could substitute linguini, fettucini...)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 avocados, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 3 roma tomatoes, chopped (can peel and seed if you prefer)
- 3 leeks, thinly sliced, white and lightest green part only
- Zest from lemons juiced below (see my microplane post about zesting)
- 1-2 lemons, juiced (if your lemon is not very juicy, use 2 - you want about 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 Tablespoon seasoning salt (I used an African brand, but the one that is probably closest in the USA is Lawry's. Feel free to choose your favorite--I've been playing with our Arizona Rattlesnake Rub to make the dish have a little more kick.)
- 2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 pound shrimp, shelled
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon canola oil
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 3+ Tablespoons fresh basil, finely shredded
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to packaged directions. You could certainly use fresh pasta, in fact, my favorite pasta right now is Kamut pasta made from the high-protein kamut grain at our local pasta shop - Lazzaroli's in Germantown. Drain and toss with the olive oil.
While pasta is cooking melt 2 Tablespoons of butter (or heat olive oil) in a saute pan. Add sliced leeks and cook over medium low heat until leeks are softened. Add avocados, tomatoes, and seasoning salt. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and zest, cover and let stand.
Heat a 12" saute pan (do NOT use a non-stick surface pan for this) over the highest heat you have. The next few steps need to be done as quickly as you can. When hot add canola oil. Let heat for a few seconds then add the shrimp. Try to get them in a single layer as best you can. As soon as they start turning pink on the one side, which is almost instantaneous, turn them over. As soon as they are all turned over, turn off the heat (if you are using an electric stove take it off the burner), throw in 2 Tablespoons of butter (cut into a few pieces so it melts quickly), add the basil and put the lid on. Do not lift the lid for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes you are ready to assemble your dish. Pour the leek, avocado and tomato mixture over the pasta, add in the shrimp and all its butter and juices. Toss together and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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