Dinner Tonight: Orecchiette with Shrimp, Pepperoncini, and Basil

Sign up for our weekly newsletter, "Dinner Tonight." Each Monday, we feature a fresh, super simple 30-minute recipe, and deliver a shopping list to your inbox. Sign up now.

For the best flavor and texture, we recommend buying shrimp in the shell and prepping it yourself. There are shortcuts at the store, of course, but they will shortchange you on flavor.

To prepare shrimp for this recipe, follow these simple steps:

1. Remove the shell. This should peel off fairly easily, and the tail will pop out too.
2. Run a sharp paring knife along the outside of the shrimp curve of the shrimp, making a shallow cut along the back to reveal the vein.
3. Use the tip of your knife to lift out and discard the vein.

Keep in mind that the vein isn’t dangerous. You can eat it and might not even notice it. But we prefer to remove it, just because it can be unpleasant to look at.