Creamy Tomato Garlic Butter Shrimp

This week's recipe comes from Cafe Delites and is advertised as a "15-minute," "quick and easy flavourful weeknight or weekend dinner that comes together in minutes!"

Fifteen minutes? Really? Chef Karina thinks too highly of my cooking abilities.

I knew walking into this that it was going to take wayyy more than fifteen minutes to whip up this recipe. However, the beautiful pictures (see above!) sealed the deal (and I had all the necessary ingredients, saving me from a trip to the grocery store), so I decided to give it a shot.

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 10 ounces | 300 g dry weight linguini (or any pasta)

• (I used a box of spaghetti.)

• 1 medium yellow onion diced

• (I had one humongous onion, so I only used 2/3 of it.)

• 2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)

• 6 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 pound | 500 g raw jumbo shrimp (prawns), peeled and deveined

• (I used a bag of frozen shrimp [thawed] from Costco's or BJ's. I think there were like 18-20 jumbo shrimp? Either way, there was enough.)

• 2 teaspoons dried basil

• (I didn't have any, so I skipped this.)

• 1 teaspoon salt , divided

• 1 x 14-ounce | 400 g bottle passata or marinara sauce

• (I used half of a large jar of Ragu sauce.)

• half a chicken bullion cube, crushed (or 1 teaspoon stock powder)

• (I couldn't cut the cube in half or crush it, so the whole thing was just tossed into the sauce.)

• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

• (I skipped this, too, though it would have really added to the overall presentation.)

• 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper, divided

• pinch of granulated sugar

• (Now that I'm typing this out, I've realized that I think I forgot to add this. Oops!)

• 2/3 cup milk (or half and half or heavy cream)

• (I used good ole whole milk.)

• grated Parmesan cheese , to serve

• (I didn't have this, so I subbed it out for half a bag of shredded mozzarella, but more on that later.)

• extra fresh chopped parsley , to serve

• (Still didn't have parsley.)

Here's a slightly random picture of a few of my ingredients! Please enjoy the sight of copious amounts of garlic, a box of spaghetti, the onion that surprisingly didn't make my eyes water, and the massive knife I almost lost some fingers to!

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. (While pasta is boiling, prepare shrimp sauce.)

2. Heat the butter in a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until transparent.

1. Stir in the garlic and fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then add in the shrimp with the basil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sauté shrimp for 2 minutes on one side; flip and continue to sauté on the other side for a further minute.

1. Quickly add in the sauce, crushed bullion (or stock powder), parsley, pepper and remaining salt.

1. Allow the sauce to heat through for another minute before adding the milk (or cream). Continue cooking for a further minute or until the shrimp are cooked through.

(The above picture is of the sauce heating up, which takes a few moments. The below picture is right after I added the milk.)

1. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, stir it through the creamy tomato sauce; toss until combined. Season with extra salt if desired.

All right, all right, all right! It took about 35-45 minutes from start to finish, but here's the final product!

A little underwhelming, no? I think adding the bright green flecks of parsley would have jazzed up the plate a bit, but I also think I'm not a good photographer. Especially with my iPhone that kept freezing and taking bursts of pictures as the steam fogged up the lens.

My Conclusions/Comments/Recommendations:

1. I added in half a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, which the recipe didn't call for. I was hoping that it would make the meal a little richer, which it definitely did, but maybe it made it a little too heavy? My family/culinary victims aren't used to adding much cheese/dairy to anything, so I think the mozzarella and the 2/3 cup of milk was a bit too much for their palates. So, if I were to make this again, I would hold off on the cheese to see if it makes a significant difference to the overall consistency.

2. I know that this recipe has "garlic" in its title, so it's supposed to be a bit garlic-y, but I think that the 6 cloves were a little overkill. If you were to serve this to picky eaters/kids with sensitive taste buds, a date you're hoping to be in close proximity of, or vampires, I would definitely cut back on the garlic. There were a few too many bites where the garlic overpowered everything else, which was a bit unpleasant.

3. I think that this recipe has the potential to be very versatile to fit each person's needs. You could make it healthier by swapping out the butter for extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil for a nuttier taste, use whatever milk (soy, skim, almond, lowfat, etc.) you prefer, and add more veggies (I think this recipe could benefit from adding some fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, or spinach!). You could also use whole wheat pasta and add whatever form of protein you prefer (I'd like to try this with some grilled chicken, but you could also use meatballs and/or sausage for a heartier meal).

4. This made way more than 4 servings. I was able to feed 5 with a good amount leftover, so maybe next time I'd cut back on the amount of spaghetti? Either way, we enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Alright, I think that's it from me for this post! I hope you'll at least think about giving it a try, and if you do, let me know in the comments down below!

Best of luck,

SUPPERGIRL