Basically, I wanted something that didn't exist.
My sister-in-law shared her recipe with me (which was a huge help), but sort of like all recipes that are awesome - it didn't involve a whole lot of perfect measurements or instructions. Those are absolutely my favorite recipes - the ones that you know are finished by a feeling rather than by a window of time or oven setting.
Those recipes are also very difficult to replicate.
SO, using her suggestions as a guideline and another recipe as framework, I set out to make my own Cajun shrimp pasta. I'm happy to say, it was a wild success. I'm also happy to say, that I actually wrote down what I did so I can share it with you here.
Who's hungry?
{Cajun Shrimp Pasta}
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. of shrimp (I use frozen, forgive me.)
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- Cajun seasoning (probably about a tablespoon, but you're just going to eyeball it)
- juice from 1-2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Garlic powder (you'll use less than the Cajun, but ditto about the eyeballing)
- Sliced mushrooms (one small can or 4-5 fresh; dealer's choice)
- 1 red bell pepper (sliced)
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons of cream cheese
- 1/2 box of whole wheat linguine (cooked)
- fresh shredded parmesan
- ground pepper
- kosher salt
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| Look at the size of this pepper! Insanity. |
Directions
- Start by thawing (if necessary) and marinading your pound of shrimp. I like mine being cleaned and deveined, but if you're so inclined do all that yourself - go for it. Toss shrimp in olive oil, minced garlic, juice of half a lemon, and Cajun seasoning. Let it sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- After your shrimp has had time to marinade, melt two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and sauté the shrimp in it. At this point you can add another good sprinkle of the Cajun seasoning as well as some garlic powder.
- Let this simmer until the shrimp is mostly cooked and then add the mushrooms and the sliced bell pepper. Meanwhile, you can start boiling your linguine.
- Stir everything around so it gets nice and covered in the butter and squirt in some more fresh lemon juice.
- Add milk and cream cheese to the pan. [Side note: You can use any sort of cream cheese you want. We almost always have Chive & Onion in our house, so that's usually what I use. The cream cheese just aids in the sauce-thickening process.]
- Let all of that cook down until it becomes a nice, creamy sauce. I usually like to let the sauce thicken up to the point where it starts to coat the spoon when I stir it.
- Toss in the linguine, add the parmesan, and season with the kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. PREPARE TO BE AMAZED.
