Recently, we were snow-bound in the house during a two-day blizzard here in Colorado. It was time to get creative with whatever I could find in the freezer and/or pantry. Luckily, I found some raw shrimp in the freezer!! I also found a bit of heavy cream in the fridge and some past in the pantry:
So, how about some pan fried shrimp in a nice garlic cream sauce, over Angel Hair pasta?
You Will Need:
- Several servings of pasta (I like Angel Hair, but Linguini works, too)
- Two pounds shrimp, raw
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1 "Bunch" green onions, diced and split into two piles.
- 1/2 Red Onion
- 8 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1 Spicy Chili Pepper (Jalapeno or Hatch Chili works well) diced
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1.5 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- Freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano
Melt the butter together with the Olive Oil in a large saute pan over medium low heat. Dump in the garlic, chili pepper, red onion, and one of the two piles of green onion. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Let it sweat there in the fat for 30 minutes or so (yes, "minutes!" if it sizzles, it's too hot and you'll burn the garlic. Use low heat and just let the garlic sit and maybe bubble a bit for awhile)... long enough to infuse the oil/butter with garlic and onion. The kitchen should smell AMAZING while this happens.
While you're sweating the aromatics, get the shrimp ready! Thaw them out, peel them, rinse them well, and season them with whatever you like! Old Bay is nice, but I prefer creole seasoning. Be sure they're all evenly seasoned.
When the onions are clear and the oil is infused with your garlic, turn the heat up to Medium High and add the shrimp! Watch them like a hawk, they'll cook FAST! Using some tongs, flip them after they've cooked for a minute or two.
It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to cook them all the way through. Flip them a few times and look for them to curl up and turn a nice shade of pink. Don't walk away! Over-cooked shrimp are "bouncy" and rubbery. Yuk!
When the shrimp are done, use your tongs to take them out of the pan and place them in a bowl. Whisk the flour into the pan until it's mixed together into a thick roux. When it's all bubbly and nutty and "tight," pour in the heavy cream....
...and whisk it quickly! With the heat still on Medium High, it should not take long at all for the cream to bubble! Keep whisking until the sauce thickens.
When it's nice and thick, dump the shrimp back in! Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the shrimp into the cream sauce. Resist the urge to flip them over themselves by doing that "chef trick" with the pan. That takes a LOT of practice and you're just not that good! You don't want hot cream sauce all over your stove-top...
Look at THIS! Look what you did! Nice and this creamy sauce that didn't separate, perfectly cooked shrimp with the sauce clinging all over it! Look at you go!
Now, dish up a plate of your pasta, and ladle some of the shrimpy goodness on top. Garnish with some of the green onions from the second pile, and sprinkle on some freshly grated Parm. Yes, I capitalized "Parm." Why? Just look at it!!
I LOVE this dish!! With some shrimp and a few odds and ends from your pantry, you can turn an otherwise mundane evening into a proper DATE NIGHT! I suggest a nice Sauvignon Blanc with this dish, but my wife prefers a snappy cold beer.
