Zesty Shrimp and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Cream Sauce

I enjoy cooking with shrimp on the weeknights.  There are so many things you can do with Shrimp and the recipes are fast and delicious.  This is one of my favorites made with a light lemon cream sauce, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of precooked shrimp
• 5 oz sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• salt
• 1/2 cup mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 teaspoon dried basil (reserve 1 tsp to garnish)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz fettuccine pasta

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, saute minced garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms in 3-4 tablespoons of oil (use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar!) for 2-3 minutes until mushrooms soften.
2. Add shrimp, paprika, crushed red pepper and 1 tsp basil. Cook on medium heat for 2 additional minutes.
3. Slowly pour half and half into the skillet. Add lemon juice. Bring to boil; reduce to simmer.
4. Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese and stir frequently until melted.
5. Remove the sauce from heat and add cooked pasta directly to the skillet until you are satisfied with the ratio of sauce to pasta.
6. Serve pasta garnished with a sprinkle of Parmesan, basil and salt to taste.

Tip:  Mushrooms are optional.

Tip # 2.  Taste the sauce while your cooking!  Want a little more zest…add another dash of lemon juice.  Cheesier…add a little more Parmesan.  Hotter…a few more sprinkles of crushed red pepper.  It’s impossible to learn to work with ingredients if you don’t experiment a little.

My husband is trying to cut carbs so we served his over steamed broccoli.  Another tip…it’s not as good as the pasta 😉