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And so it came to pass that when I realized I had not written a ten-minute play in over a year - I sat down to write one. I walked into chairs as I wrote in my head. I put dish detergent in the freezer and eggplant with the pots and pans. And didn't cook. For a week.
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It's the New Year for theatricals. The new theatre season is upon us and I am in need of unproduced plays to submit. And have none. I could do a happy tarantella - all my ten-minutes, one-acts and youth plays have been produced. But I am empty when it comes to submitting to the many theatres that ask for your unproduced plays. And it's my job to submit plays.
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I started small and melded both my lives - cook and playwright. And started a play about ravioli. I hope my intended audience likes to eat. Maybe the fact that I was writing a food-centric play Love in the Ravioli Season abated my appetite. I didn't cook. And when the play was finished, I looked at my family and realized they had existed on rotisserie chicken for a week. I took pity and made Shrimp Oreganata.
Shrimp Oreganata is a ten-minute play. You get to the crux of the matter immediately. Take your ingedients and cook. Simmer for ten-minutes and you have a theatrical ending worthy of company. It's so easy, I probably could have made this while writing. Onions sweetly cooked in olive oil and then - to surprise the palate and add drama - some crushed hot pepper flakes added. Tomatoes and shrimp cooked in wine to satisfy all the senses. Crunch, surprising toasted bread crumbs for comic relief.`
Gather your ingredients. It's a fast recipe.
SHRIMP OREGANATA INGREDIENTS - serves 4
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin or virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1-1/2 cups sliced cherry or grape tomatoes or just dice the plum-shaped beauties or even the round ones
20 fresh oregano leaves or if you don't have an oregano bush 1-2 tablespoons dried oregano
1-1/2 pounds peeled, de-veined shrimp
1/2 cup white wine
In a small dry skillet, toast your breadcrumbs. 1-2 minutes.
Heat your olive oil and add your onions. Let them sweat 3-4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and cook 1 more minute.
Add shrimp and tomatoes and stir for 2-3 minutes to blend. Add your oregano and stir.
Add your white wine and simmer for 12-15 minutes. You don't want to toughen the shrimp so make sure the heat is on low and it's not boiling away.
Put into serving platter and top with bread crumbs. Add chives if you wish for garnish. Serve with pasta or rice. I served this with brown rice to soak up the delicate juices.
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Now it's time to devise another play. Dreaming of an anthology of ten-minute "food" plays. What do you think of Bake, Broil and Roll for a title? Ten-minute plays won't keep my pantry stocked in truffles and the good Parmigiano-Reggiano. But they shake up the brain, keep you honest and succinct and are - dare I say it - just plain fun. Yes, even this middle-aged playwright/food blogger/laundry queen/basil-keeper/guardian-of-the-cat and-dog needs a little fun.
And a happily ever after with shrimp.
