Yield: 4 Servings

Scott Nowell

Spur of the moment special. Basically, pasta with shrimp and asparagus with a cream sauce. Feel free to substitute any pasta, green vegetable or protein. Chicken or Kielbasa are nice substitutes.

Pasta:

• 8oz Farfalle (bow tie pasta) or similar

Protein:

• 2lb 16/20 (or 21/25) Shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed (substitute 1½ to 2 lbs sliced chicken breast, 1-2 Kielbasa sliced 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, etc.)

Vegetable:

• 1bunch asparagus (substitute green beans, broccoli, etc.)

Wannahavit:

• 1cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1medium shallot, minced
• 2-4cloves garlic, minced, about 1 heaping TBS
• 1cup heavy cream
• ½-¾cup shredded parmigiana cheese
• salt and pepper

Get your mese together! Mise en place that is. Cut, trim and measure everything before you start cooking.

Season shrimp (or chicken) with salt and pepper. Do not season Kielbasa.

Prep and blanch green vegetable: Cut the wooden bottom 2 to 3 inches from asparagus and discard. Peel the next two to three inches of the asparagus and then cut into thirds or quarters to make bite size pieces. For fresh green beans, trim ends and cut into 2-inch lengths.

In your favorite pasta pot, bring a gallon of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 TBS salt to the boiling water and stir.

Blanch the green vegetable for 2 to 3 minutes in boiling water to desired consistency, remove with a spider or sieve and plunge into ice water. Set aside.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Stir and cook to package directions for al dente.

Reserve: 1 cup of pasta cooking water and then drain pasta.

Sauté shrimp and vegetable: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 TBS butter and melt until foaming. When the foaming stops add 1 TBS olive oil and swirl to mix. Add shrimp and minced shallot, reduce heat to medium and cook about 2 minutes on one side until slightly browned. Flip shrimp over and cook for another 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Mix and remove shrimp mixture to bowl including any oil in the pan. If using chicken, make sure it is cooked through. Kielbasa should be nicely browned.

Return skillet to heat and add another TBS of olive oil. Add the blanched green vegetable and cook for 2 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, mix and cover the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. If the pasta isn’t ready yet, remove to bowl with shrimp.

Assembly: Turn heat down to medium and return pasta to its pan and add reserved shrimp, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes. Add a TBS or olive oil or two if needed. Pour in 1 cup heavy cream, and the grated parmigiana cheese. Mix well until heated through. Taste and season with salt and pepper. It will probably need about a teaspoon of kosher salt and ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper. If the sauce is to thin, add some of the reserved pasta cooking water and mix until you get the desired consistency.

Mix, serve.