I decided to step out of my usual box this month and bought two packages of frozen shrimp to work into our menu plans this month.
My husband and I both really love shrimp, but it was a new food for the kids and I figured the best way to get them to eat it would be incorporating it into two new pasta dishes. Choosing pasta to work our shrimp in also extended the amount of servings we could get from it. With this one dish, we had six large helpings helping to carry us through a couple of lunches too!
I decided to tweak the recipe a bit and added lemon zest into the sauce to give it a little kick. Adding this little extra in, a few slices of lemon to garnish on top, and the fresh parsley, brightened up the dish a lot and added to the fresh taste.
I choose the frozen, uncooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp for our dish from our supermarket (40 count bag was roughly $5. 84 at Walmart). Living in the Midwest, the fish doesn’t taste very fresh to me, and keeping it in the freezer kept a great dish on hand that would be worthy of a night of entertaining guests in your home.
As for the kids, we got two thumbs up from my daughter and one thumb down from my son. My son wasn’t a fan of the texture, but still ate the pasta. In my husband’s words, “That means there is just more for me!” Emily, on the other hand, loved this fun new food. One out of two isn’t too bad and I am happy to have a fresh new dish to add to the menu plans!
Shrimp Linguine Alfredo (Adapted from AllRecipes Dinner Tonight)
1 (12 ounce) package linguine pasta
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup diced onion (we omitted because we are not fans!)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
40 small, uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup half-and-half
Zest from two lemons
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Garnishes: Fresh parsley, sprigs, lemon slices (use the lemons that you zested)
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook in boiling water for eight to ten minutes; drain. Meanwhile melt butter in a large saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic over medium heat until tender. Add shrimp; saute over high heat for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove shrimp into a bowl and set aside. Stir in half and half and add the zest of two lemons. Cook stirring constantly until your sauce thickens. Add shrimp back in and turn off heat. Place pasta in a serving bowl and cover with shrimp sauce. Sprinkle with black pepper and Parmesan Cheese. Toss to incorporate. Garnish if desired.
Does your family have a favorite seafood dish? Please share it here!