If winter's here... Pasta with peas and rock shrimp

Anyone , anywhere , who tries to eat locally and seasonally, gets to a point, especially in winter and early spring, where this lifestyle can just begin to get oppressive. Here in NYC, I checked a website to see what is "in season" in NY in March. The list included carrots, potatoes, turnips and apples. All in storage, and that was it.
Try to make meals of that. Even in a place such as Northern California, where we think of a cornucopia of seasonal produce, the same phenomenon happens. One year, in San Francisco, in the midst of May, a waiter at Zuni steered us away from asparagus because "we've all had enough of those already." Well, maybe in SF, but in NY, where the first sprig had not shown its pretty head yet, no, we had NOT had enough of them. It is all relative.
So, what you find happening, as is the case in Annalena's kitchen, is that you wind up granting yourself an exemption to your own rules, so that you can cook.
One wonders if it's a true exemption, or "cheating," if you use produce that you've "put by" earlier. It was always traditional to "put up" beets, green beans, peaches, and so forth, and then eat them during the winter. Some of you have lived through those canning ordeals. Is storing things in a freezer any different? We can debate the point endlessly, but in any event, this is the time of year when I start taking the bags and bags and bags of stuff out of the freezer and using them. So, ragazzi, you wil be seeing recipes in days to come involving corn, peas, fava beans, cherries, other berries, rhubarb, and so forth. If you are wondering "has Annalena sold out?" that may answer your question. And here comes the first one.

Green peas are one of the vegetables that freezes extremely well. Some feel that the frozen peas you can buy are actually better than fresh, because frozen food technology allows for better sorting by size and sugar levels, than you could do by eye. Annalena disagrees, but if you find yourself in a situation where you did not freeze peas during their season, and you can find frozen ones that are not crammed full of unpronounceable compounds, make this dish. It is very easy.

You will need a pound of shelled shrimp (again, an exemption. Shrimp are not indigenous to NY waters. I used rock shrimp, from Florida). If they are very large, cut them into smaller pieces. The shrimp should be a mouthful, not more. You also need two cups of peas, frozen is fine and two tablespoons of butter. Finally, 3/4 pound of pasta. I like to make this with multicolored, fresh short pasta, but use whatever you like. It works better with the stubby varieties, because the peas and shrimp have that kind of shape.

Start a big pot of water boiling, and when it comes to the boil, add two tablespoons of salt, and the pasta. As the pasta cooks, melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet, and add the shrimp. It will not take long for them to cook. Then add the peas. Again, this will take not long to cook. You will probably have your "sauce" done in less than six minutes.

If you have used fresh pasta, that is probably all the time you will need for it to cook. If dried, you'll need more, but you know how to tell when it's done to your liking.

Drain the pasta, put it back in the pasta pot over low heat, and then add the shrimp and peas. Toss it together, and lunch or dinner is done.

The crafty amongst you will be seeing substitutions right away. Scallops will substitute for shrimp just about everywhere, and they will work here. Similarly, you could use other vegetables, like cut green beans, or tomatoes, or anything with some color and some kind of contrasting sweetness.

Do make Annalena one promise: don't put cheese into this. PLEEEEEEASE? After all, it's fish, and unless she's making scallops in cream sauce with parmesan for her buddy Keiff, Annalena abjures that combination