Shrimp Pasta with Spinach and Sundried Tomato Cream

shrimp pasta

Here’s a quick meal for this busy time of year, it’s my shrimp pasta with spinach and sundried tomato cream. It comes together in no time at all and it’s something you can easily make on a busy mid week day. It has just a handful of ingredients but when mingled together create a scrumptious combination. pasta and shrimp

I chose a store bought, fresh made pasta that I bought from my local Italian market, I used two different kinds that were actually flavored with spinach and tomato and combined them both just to fancy it up a bit, but honestly any dried fettuccine style pasta would do.

Also whether you use frozen or fresh shrimp it’s very important to pat it dry, you don’t want any water clinging on to the shrimp, otherwise your sauce will become watery. I like to layer my shrimp between paper towels just to make sure all the moisture is out.cooking pasta

Fresh pasta cooks up in just a couple of minutes, over cooking it will make it gummy and soft and you don’t want that, so a quick plunge into boiling water keeping it nice and al dente.

shrimp pasta

The sauce and all the ingredients are tossed into one pan and finished in the time it takes to cook the shrimp, which is just a few minutes.shrimp pasta

There’s no exact recipe for this but I’ll give you the general amounts that I used. I like to have more shrimp to pasta ratio it keeps the dish a little lighter.

It’s fresh, easy to prepare and tastes amazing, a nice change after all the turkey and trimmings we just had!

Follow me on Instagram to see what I’ll be cooking up during the Christmas season.

5.0 from 2 reviews
Shrimp Pasta with Spinach and Sundried Tomato Cream
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. shrimp, cleaned, deveined with tails removed, patted completely dry
  • fresh or dried pasta, fettuccine style ( I used less than ½ pound)
  • 3 large garlic cloves, smashed
  • ½ cup sundried tomatoes packed in their flavored oil
  • a big handful of fresh baby spinach
  • ½ to ¾ cup of heavy cream
  • red pepper flakes (optional)
  • fresh chopped parsley
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. Get your salted water boiling for the pasta.
  2. In a skillet drizzled with olive oil add the garlic and red pepper flakes until slightly golden and fragrant.
  3. Add in the shrimp.
  4. When shrimp is finished cooking drop your pasta and cook very al dente if fresh, if using dried pasta follow time on box for al dente time.
  5. Into the skillet toss in the sundried tomatoes with oil, (the oil will flavor it nice) and heavy cream, it should thicken quickly.
  6. Toss in your spinach at this time.
  7. When pasta is cooked, drain and toss it into the skillet with all the ingredients, tossing and coating the pasta with the creamy sauce.
  8. Garnish with parsley.
  9. NOTE:
  10. You can use ½ lb of shrimp with less pasta, more sundried tomatoes, more cream if you want it creamier, more spinach. Don't get hung up on the amounts, you can't go wrong.

 

Signature

SALMON STUFFED WITH ARTICHOKE & SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, WITH A LEMON CAPER SAUCE!

If you’re a lover of salmon like me, then you have to try this! It’s easy to put together for a mid week meal, and elegant enough to serve for a special dinner party.

Serve this with a nice crisp salad and a cold glass of Pinot Grigio, and you’ve got a match made in heaven!!


The actual stuffing is made with frozen artichoke hearts, that have been defrosted and squeezed of any excess water (Trader Joes has the best!) sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and sliced into strips, a couple of shallots, a hint of garlic, and some good flavored breadcrumbs, not the kind that’s real fine, something with texture.

Saute in olive oil and butter, the shallots and garlic, add your breadcrumbs till golden and crispy.
Add artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, mix well.

Take one piece of salmon, seasoned with a little salt and pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil, place a mound of stuffing on top, add a second piece of salmon on top of that, repeat with salt, pepper, olive oil and a little paprika. Line a pan with parchment or tin foil and roast till moist and flaky.

Lemon Caper sauce****
Squeeze fresh lemon and a dash of water into half and half, or cream that has been cooked down till thick, add black pepper and capers.

Lay your salmon on a bed of fresh sauted spinach, and pour the sauce on top, the flavor combinations work great together, hope you give it a try!!

Buon Appetito!

Signature

PENNE W/SHRIMP & BROCCOLI AGLIO OLIO!!

If you are opting for something a little lighter before the big turkey showdown this is a quick and light meal to make. Hubby and I had this last night. I usually always have a bag of shrimp in my freezer, it’s something easy to defrost and quick to cook!

THIS IS ALL YOU DO:

Put a pan of water on for your pasta, when it boils blanch the broccoli for 1 minute and scoop out with slotted spoon, then drop pasta in the same water and cook al dente.
While that’s cooking, saute at least 4 cloves of of shaved garlic with olive oil till golden, then you want to put your shrimp and broccoli in the oil and saute, next deglaze everything with some white wine. When the sauce reduces a little and all the flavors are blended, put in your pasta so it soaks up the sauce, add salt & pepper to taste, and in this case I added some sun dried tomatoes, which I think adds color and flavor. That’s it!!!!

Buon Appetito

Signature