Creamy Shrimp Pasta With Mushrooms

Creamy Shrimp Pasta With Mushrooms

Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Mushrooms in a homemade alfredo sauce.  The creamy pasta sauce is made with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika.  Serves 4

 

Ingredients
8 oz fettuccine pasta (for gluten free version, use gluten free brown rice pasta)
½ cup cooked pasta water (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb shrimp (10 big shrimp or 20 small shrimp without shells, deveined)
3 garlic cloves minced
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 oz mushrooms thinly sliced
1 cup half and half
½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
½ cup Mozzarella cheese shredded

Directions:
Cook pasta
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain. Reserve some of the pasta water.

How to cook shrimp:  Heat a large skillet until hot - add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and immediately add garlic and shrimp. 

Cook on one side for about 1 minute until pink, on medium-high heat.
Flip the shrimp to the other side. Sprinkle the top of the cooked side of shrimp with dry basil, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until shrimp is pink on both sides. 

Remove the shrimp from the skillet. If shrimp is a little undercooked - it's OK because you will continue cooking it in the sauce.

How to cook mushrooms:  To the same, now empty, skillet, add sliced mushrooms. Add more olive oil if necessary.

Cook on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms become soft and release juices. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt midway through cooking.

How to make creamy sauce

To the skillet with mushrooms, add cooked shrimp. Immediately add 1 cup half-and-half. Bring to boil.

Add half the cheese (½ cup). Bring to boil, and immediately reduce to medium-simmer. Cook, constantly stirring, until the cheese melts.
Gradually start adding the remaining cheese (½ cup), while stirring. 

Do not add all of the remaining ½ cup of cheese at once. Add just enough for the sauce to get creamy without getting too thick. You might not use all of the remaining cheese. 

Remove from heat. Taste, and add more salt if needed.

Add cooked and drained pasta from step 1 to the skillet with shrimp and mushrooms and cream sauce. Reheat on medium heat. Stir well.

If the cream sauce is too thick and you want it thinner - add some pasta water in small amounts to the cream sauce (while the sauce is simmering on low-medium heat) until you reach desired consistency.
Season with more salt and add more crushed red pepper flakes and basil, if desired.  Serves 4

Notes

What is half-and-half?

Here is what to do to substitute for 1 cup of half-and-half:  combine ½ cup milk and ½ cup heavy cream.

Asparagus And Fettuccine

Craig Lee for The New York Times

Finding a 30-minute dish that's elegant enough for a dinner party is no simple task, but this warm-weather pasta is one to fit the bill. It is gleefully easy to put together. Just toss slices of blanched asparagus with a tangle of cooked fettuccine slicked with butter. Shower with grated Parmesan and serve.

Featured in: 60 Minute Gourmet. 

LEARN: How to Cook Asparagus

Asparagus, Fettuccine, Italian

116 ratings

INGREDIENTS

• 6 fresh asparagus spears, about 1/2 pound
• 10 ounces fresh fettuccine or 3/4 pound dried fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or parsley
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
•  Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

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  Nutritional Information

PREPARATION

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
2. Cut off tough ends of asparagus spears. Cut each on the bias into 1-inch lengths. There should be about 1 1/2 cups. Rinse well and drain.
3. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook about 2 minutes. Remove asparagus with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. Drop the fettuccine into salted boiling water. Let cook to desired degree of doneness (cooking time will range from about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes for fresh pasta to 9 minutes or more for dried). Reserve 2 tablespoons cooking water. Drain the pasta.
5. Heat the butter in the pot in which the pasta was cooked. Add the asparagus pieces and the fettuccine. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons of cooking water and basil. Toss to blend. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese on the side.

Mary's "Seafood Fettuccini" ..... Straight from the City Center of Milano.

Our entire family gathered together Saturday evening for a dinner party with a total of sixteen family and friends. Daughter Mary was our guest chef! (by command) It was a true command performance of excellence! I will share her recipe for Seafood Fettuccine. You do understand that Italian cooks keep a tasting spoon nearby and use it as they cook.

Mary's Seafood Fettuccine

Ingredients:

Vine ripened tomatoes

salt

olive oil

red pepper flakes

cooked shrimp

whipping cream

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Fettuccine which is cooked al dente.

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Directions:

For six servings:

Allow 2 vine ripened tomatoes per serving. Chop and place in blender or food processor and puree. Season with salt and add 1 teaspoon olive oil per serving (6 x 1 tsp.=2 Tablespoons). Cook over low heat for approximately one hour to reduce the sauce.

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When sauce is reduced, season with red pepper flakes which is individual taste. Add shrimp to sauce and only heat through. Add 8 oz. whipping cream per six servings and do not bring to a boil again but only to heat through.

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Toss sauce with cooked fettuccine and serve.