Pintrest Recipes

So I promised my dear husband that I would start cooking more and start making recipes that were different than our "typical" fare.  I decided to do Pintrest Sundays.  I always look at the yummy food pictures and "pin" them but I had not necessarily been diligently trying them.  So- New Year's resolution time-

 Here's Pintrest New Year recipe #1.

Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta from Chaos in the Kitchen

 

• 4-8 oz fettuccine or linguine- I used Linguine, about 6 ounces (1/2 the bag)
• 10 tbsp butter, divided (I know, but I’ve tried it with less and it’s just not the same) 
• 8 oz fresh, sliced mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves, minced ( I mined one fresh clove but then used a heaping spoonful of store bought)
• 3 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped (you can use dried herbs if that’s all you have)
• 2/3 cup boiling water (from your noodle pot)
• 1 lb cooked shrimp ( I used frozen- and saute'd them in more butter prior to adding them)

1. Boil and salt a large pot of water and cook your pasta.  I usually only use about half of an 8 oz box, preferring fewer noodles. ( I waited until I was done cooking the shrimp before starting the water and pasta.)
2. While your pasta is cooking, cook your shrimp if necessary and reserve.  If your shrimp are pre-cooked and frozen, quickly thaw them under running water.
3. In a large skillet melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until soft and brown.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Reserve cooked mushrooms and melt remaining butter in the skillet.  Add minced garlic, cream cheese, and herbs.  At this point, I generally feel like something has gone terribly wrong.  The cream cheese doesn’t really melt and starts to look almost curdled, don’t worry about it!  It will all smooth out and be wonderful when we add the water. I promise. ( Stirred this pretty constantly- it looked a little weird but no problems.
5. Simmer cream cheese mixture until well blended. Get a scoop of boiling pasta water from your noodle pot and mix it in, stirring quickly to smooth out the sauce. (I wasn't sure exactly how much a "scoop" was here- I added 4 tbs of water and decided that was enough- the sauce was thick but not too thick and not runny)
6. Keep sauce hot and add shrimp and mushrooms, mix well and simmer (stirring often) until everything is hot and thickened, about 10 minutes-you wont ruin this sauce by accidentally boiling it so don’t worry. (Basically I tossed the shrimp and mushrooms in and got everything nice and coated then removed from the heat.  I did not want to over cook the shrimp).

Toss sauce with cooked noodles and serve.                                                            

                YUM!- Chase wants me to make this again but due to the HUGE amount of butter (cholesterol) I may either tweak the recipe or not make often.  It was certainly tastey!  I think I may enjoy making new recipes!