Pasta dinner. They're the very best, in my carb-loving opinion.
Ask my husband, 8 out of 10 times when I'm left to make us a weekend meal- it's pasta.
Spaghetti, rigatoni, farfelle, you name it- I'm down for cooking it.
So it's no surprise I've got yet another bowl of the good stuff to share with you this time around.
Not an original recipe so I can't take credit. But what I can do is detail it for you and tell you it was outstanding. Lemon and seafood are an obvious match but I loved the butter scampi-ness with some greens just as much.
It came together 1-2-3 and paired quite well with some chilled dry Chardonnay too.
The latter there isn't a must, but if wine's your thing, don't forget to chill your bottle while your prepping.
Cheers & enjoy...
Shrimp & Asparagus Scampi over Fresh Pasta
Slightly adapted from: Natasha's Kitchen
Serves: 2- 4
Ingredients:
1/2 lb fresh tagliatelle pasta (dried spaghetti would work too)
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 TBS unsalted butter, divided
3 TBS olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to your taste preference
3/4 to 1 lb large shrimp- peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS lemon zest, about what you get from one lemon
1/4 C fresh lemon juice, from 1 large or 2 small lemons
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Freshly grated parmigiano
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta to package directions, being sure to reserve pasta water
In a large, deep sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS butter and melt together. Add asparagus, season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until crisp tender. Remove asparagus from pan.
In the same hot pan, add 2 TBS oil and 2 TBS butter over medium low heat. Once melted together, add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for about 1-2 minutes stirring often. Add shrimp in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Sauté and be sure to flip shrimp once one side is pink so the other side can cook. Sauté until all shrimp are pink throughout and not translucent- (About 5 -6 minutes total- could be faster depending on your shrimp size!)
Add lemon zest, juice and dried parsley and stir to combine. Add asparagus and pasta to pan along with about 1/4 C reserved pasta water. Top with grated parmigiana and toss well to coat.
Enjoy!
