Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

It’s been a while… No excuses except the typical ones: work, life, projects, deadlines, exhaustion. : X

So today I will share my experience with making creamy cajun shrimp pasta. Trust me, you’re going to love it! I was thrilled to be able to use parsley from my own plant as a garnish. I need to get a basil plant as well… wouldn’t mind getting an herb garden going! If you have any experience with that, do tell.

There’s a 1/4 cup butter in this recipe, but that’s about it for fat. Not bad at all, considering how creamy it turns out.

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta 

Ingredients

• 1 package linguine
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I would try substituting with 3/4 whipping cream next time, flour lends a bit too much thickness to the sauce)
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Garnish with parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 4 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute shrimp for 1 minute on each side. Stir in garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon; set aside. Stir in flour and Cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, then cook until thickened. Remove from heat, and season with salt and lemon juice. Return shrimp to sauce, and spoon over cooked pasta.  Garnish with parsley.

Yummy! I am a HUGE pasta fan, no doubt. You may think that the shrimp should be cooked longer than 1 minute on each side, but don’t worry, it turns out perfect. (In any case, shrimp gets easily overcooked so it’s better if you err on the side of caution.) Once you plop it back in the sauce, it will become evenly warmed and cooked.

And I will end with some preachy comments about cooking at home… I sadly have a very sensitive stomach (probably spoiled from all the good food I eat at home) so I have to be careful when I eat out. I think it’s just all the oil and fat in outside food, too much for my body to process. Also I don’t trust that restaurants/fast food places abide by the most stringent sanitary standards (think of how sometimes when people prepare your food, their hands touch your food and the soggy rag they use to clean the counter as well. Yes, I have observed this), and if you are buying cheap or average priced food, the ingredients may not be too fresh (old vegetables).

That being said, when I eat out, I like to spend my money wisely.. I might have to pay more to eat at a good restaurant, but if the food is fresh, then I am fine with it. Gather restaurant in Berkeley is one such place. I had their kale salad and a vegetarian pizza, and oh my goodness was it delicious! I had a boiled egg with my salad, and that thing looked like it had just been boiled a few minutes ago, it was fresh. Yes, fresh boiled eggs make me happy. Did you know that a lot of the boiled eggs that restaurants use come in these large jars filled with a preserving liquid? Yeah, it’s pretty disgusting. But no, Gather restaurant was 100% fresh and delicious. Berkeley is just a hub for healthy food like this!

So what can you take away from my chatter?

1. Cook at home more often

2. When you eat out (and do so sparingly), go for quality and freshness, even if the wallet feels a bit lighter after.

Oh and I just thought of this one, but SUSHI is always an excellent option! Low-fat, filling, and really hard to mess up, lol. (A photo below of my wonderful lunch at Matsu Sushi this past Saturday.)

Happy chowing! 🙂