Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Have you ever had Shrimp Diavolo from Bravo's? Well, that is my all time favorite entree to get at Bravo's and this meal reminds me a lot of their Shrimp Diavolo dish. This makes me too excited, because now I can continue to play around with it to make it more and more like Bravo's! WoooHooo!!!

Originally the plan was to make Pioneer Woman's "Penne a la Betsy!" recipe, but I decided to added a few small ingredients and change some, to make it my own. It turned out great :) and Taylor asked to have this on the menu more!

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

What you'll need:
3/4 pounds Rotini Pasta [or your choice of pasta]
1 pound raw Shrimp, deveined, peeled, no tail
3 tbs butter
3 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 15oz can tomato sauce (or 1 8oz can)
1 cup half & half
1 tbs sour cream
1 tbs fresh Parsley
2-3 tbs fresh Basil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Red Pepper Flakes [Dash on each plate for a hint of spice- this was delicious!]
Shredded Parmesan [Topping]

1. Heat 1 tbs butter, 1 tbs olive oil in medium sized pan, on medium heat. Rinse shrimp & add shrimp to pan. Saute until pink, not all the way through. While that is cooking, bring a pot of water to boil for pasta.

2. Chop onion & garlic. Set aside.

3. Once shrimp are cooked, remove to a plate and set aside.

4. Wipe out pan [or get a new one], heat 2 tbs butter, 2 tbs olive oil. Saute onion & garlic, stirring occasionally. [Start cooking pasta]

5. While onion & garlic are sauteing, cut shrimp into small bite size pieces.

6. Pour wine into pan with onions & garlic. Let the alcohol cook out for a few minutes.  Then add tomato sauce, stir. [Place heat on low]

7. Add half & half and 1 tbs sour cream.

8. Stir together. While it heats up, chop parsley & basil.

Doesn't that look cool? :)

9. Add shrimp, stir. [Drain pasta]

10. Add parsley & basil, stir.

11. Add pasta, stir. Salt & Pepper, to taste.











Voila!


Mmmm!!!! I could go for some more of this right about now! ;)

Plate, add dash of red pepper flakes and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

[Picture taken without red pepper flakes... but I added some, don't you worry!]

You won't regret making this, I promise!!!

Enjoy :)

Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash

In attempt to eat healthier, lighter meals, I am slowly making transitions. [This is hard people! But I welcome the challenge, and any of your ideas]. I used Spaghetti Squash instead of real spaghetti pasta. It was a good decision! Taylor and I both really liked it, which was surprising. So, that means we will be able to cut some pasta out of our meals using the spaghetti squash, and that's exciting. :) The Lemon Garlic Shrimp is a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. Oh my, is it good!!! And incredible on top of the squash.

Spaghetti Squash

There are many ways you can choose to cook this. We were pressed for time, so I took the quickest route. I boiled the squash and it turned out perfect. I plan on trying baking it next time to see if there is a big difference. Here are both options:

Boil
1. Bring salted water to a boil in a big pot.
2. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. [Kind of like a pumpkin :)]
3. Place the spaghetti squash in the pot [try to keep skin side up].
4. Boil for 15-20 minutes, or until it's tender.
5. Carefully remove it from the pot onto a cutting board, let cool.

6. Using a fork, scrape the inside to get the strands of spaghetti out.

7. Drain to remove excess water.












Bake
1. Put fork holes all around the squash.
2. On a baking sheet, bake squash at 375 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. Remove it, let it cool, then begin using a fork to get the spaghetti strands out. 


Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients
2 pounds raw shrimp, deveined, shell off
2  sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup fresh parsley [I used 2 tsp dried parsley]
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 whole lemon, juiced
Half of lemon zest

1. Set oven to 375 degrees. Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then place on baking sheet.



2. In a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, parsley, and red pepper.

Pulse until combined.

3. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

4. Bake until shrimp in opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

5. Serve hot over spaghetti squash. [We didn't have bread with ours, but dipping the bread in the butter sauce is delicious too!!!]


ENJOY! :)

The BEST Shrimp & Grits You'll Ever Eat!

I promise you, this recipe will become a regular in your household. It is delicious! I never had grits, let alone shrimp & grits, before I moved to NC. And even then, it had been 3 years living here before I tried it. It wasn't until I had this meal at Taylor's while we were dating, and man oh man! it. is. gooooood.!! :) So, let me not waste any time. . . here is the recipe!

Shrimp & Grits - [Thank you, Gisele for the recipe]!

1 cup stone ground grits
1/4 of a stick of butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 pieces of bacon strips, raw & chopped
1 pound peeled & de-veined, shrimp
1 medium garlic clove, minced
3 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried parsley
1 cup [or just under a cup] green onion, chopped
** 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper [optional] 

1. Cook the grits, follow the instructions on the grits box.


2. After the water boils & the grits are added, let it simmer 15 minutes.










3. Add the butter & cheese, set aside.

Hubby joined me in the kitchen :-D Such a blast!!! 

4. Fry the bacon in a deep pan until it's nice and crispy.










Remove the bacon and set aside on a paper towel. [Hide the bacon so you don't eat it]!

Run warm water over your shrimp to thaw them out.

[I'd do this while you are starting the grits & bacon to save time].  

Then, my amazing husband, de-tailed the shrimp!

* Simply pinch the tail & pull right off.

5. In the BACON GREASE, yes, keep the bacon grease - this is the best part ;). Put the crushed red pepper, garlic & shrimp into the bacon grease. Cook on medium for 3 minutes.

** With the crushed red pepper, the meal is real spicy. If you don't want spicy omit the crushed red peppers. If you want a hint of spice, add less than 1/2 tsp. I've had it both ways, and both are good. Tay & I personally like it with all the spice. :)

6. Add the lemon juice, parsley & green onion. Immediately pull off the heat.

7. Add the bacon, stir.

Then add the shrimp & goodies to the grits.

[Grab a spatula(!), you don't want to waste any of the goods]!

Mix together.

Enjoy!!! 

Easy & Low-Fat Coconut Shrimp

I am finally starting to go through my cookbooks to find new and different recipes. This recipe is easy and low-fat and so delicious! It would be fun to twist it a little and try different ingredients, but for now, here is the original recipe. [Thank you Betty Crocker's Cookbook]

You will need:

Apricot Sauce
3/4 cup apricot preserves
1 tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp ground mustard

Coconut Shrimp
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbs brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
dash of ground red pepper [cayenne]
1 egg
1 tbs lime juice
1 cup coconut
1 pound uncooked peeled & deveined shrimp [I bought jumbo size]
2 tbs butter, melted

1. Make Apricot Sauce.
      * Mix all ingredients in pan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until preserves are melted. Refrigerate while making shrimp.

2. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray rack in broiler pan. [If you don't have a broiler pan, use a baking sheet and cooling rack on top, spray the cooling rack].

3. Mix flour, brown sugar, salt & red pepper in first bowl. Beat egg & lime juice in second bowl. Place coconut in third bowl.






4. Coat each shrimp with flour, then dip into the egg, then coat with coconut. Place on the rack. After all shrimp are covered, drizzle the melted butter over top.

5. Bake 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm and coating begins to brown. Serve with sauce.

6. Enjoy!!