Shrimp and Mushroom Linguini in an Herbed Cheese Sauce

Another rich and decadent pasta dish, fitting for a Sunday night meal but easy enough for a weeknight. The main ingredients are of course the shrimp and mushrooms, but once they were tossed with the cheese sauce, I felt the need to add some colour back in, so I added some cooked broccoli in. Just another example of how adaptable these dishes are to your personal taste. 


Shrimp and Mushroom Linguini in an Herbed Cheese Sauce
Serves 4


Printable Recipe


Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz) package linguini pasta (or fresh pasta)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (3 oz) package cream cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 tsp dried basil
• 2/3 cup milk, warmed
• 1/2 pound shrimp, cooked (preferably in white wine and garlic)

Directions

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguini and cook until tender. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, cook and stir until tender. Transfer to a plate.
• In the same pan, melt 1/4 cup butter with minced garlic. Stir in the cream cheese, breaking it up with a spoon as it melts. Stir in the parsley and basil. Simmer for five minutes. Mix in milk until sauce is smooth. 
• Stir in cooked shrimp and mushrooms and heat through.
• Toss linguini with sauce and serve.

Mushroom Ravioli in Butter-Sage Sauce

Recently a friend of ours received boxes of locally-grown, organic mushrooms. One man can only eat so many mushrooms, so T and I were very fortunate recipients of a huge bag of them. They looked unlike anything I had ever seen before. They were huge, with massive caps and lots of little sprouts at the bottom. They smelled like the forrest floor. Following some online exploration, I deemed these mushrooms to be simply "wild mushrooms," that one website suggested only eating them at the discretion of a mycologist, a mushroom expert.

I figured they came from a local farmer, so I threw caution to the wind and threw the mushrooms in some butter and cheese and made musrhoom ravioli!

Now, I'll be honest here. The mushrooms not only smelled like the forest floor, they tasted like it too. But do not be deterred! If you love wild mushrooms, go ahead and use what you can find. Or, play it safe and use mushrooms from the grocery store that are not so strong and full of flavour. (The types recommended below are the store-bought kind, not the wild kind).

Overall, ravioli was simple enough to make (go ahead and check out some YouTube videos for good technique) and tasted good. Next time though, I'll use mushrooms from Loblaws!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds assorted fresh mushrooms (such as button, cremini and shiitake), brushed clean, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium shallots
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 8 sheets fresh pasta
• all purpose flour for dusting

For butter-sage sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent. Stir in parsley and cook one minute more. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently until mushrooms first release their liquid and then liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cook stirring until liquid evaporates. Transfer to a bowl and cool briefly before stirring in parmesan and ricotta. Season with salt and pepper.

• Dust baking sheet with flour; set aside. Place pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place eight heaping measuring teaspoons of mushroom filling along the top third of the sheets, about two inches apart. Moisten pasta around each mount of filling using a pastry brush dipped in water. Fold the dough up and over the filling to enclose, press around filling to seal. Cut between the mounds with a pastry wheel to cut into square ravioli. Transfer to prepared baking sheet a chill until ready to cook. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling.

• In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until the garlic has softened. Stir in the sage and salt for a few seconds.

• At the same time, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook until ravioli float to the top, or about five minutes. Drain. Toss with butter-sage sauce and toss gently with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Shrimp Alfredo

I was looking for a special dinner for a Sunday night, and I stumbled upon the most decadent pasta I have ever had -- shrimp alfredo. I usually don't gravitate towards cream sauces, favouring a lighter tomato sauce or even a white wine sauce, but this one seemed to be calling my name. 


Balanced out by the lightness of fresh pasta, this was delicious, but can only be served in small quantities due to the richness and definitely served with a salad with a simple vinaigrette dressing. If you're looking for a treat though, this is it and to top it off, it's pretty fast and easy. 


Ingredients

• fresh linguine pasta
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 4 tbsp onion,diced
• 4 tsp garlic, minced
• 30-40 shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 6 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
• fresh parsley and lemon for garnish

Directions

• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until al dente, drain
• Melt butter in a large saucepan. Sautee onion and garlic over medium heat until tender
• Add shrimp and saute over medium-high heat until shrimp turn pink
• Stir in half-and-half and parmesan stirring constantly until sauce thickens
• Toss in linguine and sprinkle with black pepper
• Garnish with parsley and lemon

Recipe from www.allrecipes.com 

Turkey Cannelloni

In the movie Julie&Julia, they say that it's rude to say "yum" while you're eating, but I couldn't stop saying it when I made this. 

This was easily one of the most delicious things that I have ever made, and something I genuinely would be happy to get in a restaurant. But let's be honest, it's also one of the most complicated. Usually when I look for recipes, I look for simple, simple, simple. But I was craving cannelloni and I was willing to put in the effort for something a little more complex. And boy am I glad I did.

Sure, there are a tonne of ingredients and a crazy amount of directions. Sure, this recipe is a little fiddley -- especially if you make the pasta. (even if you don't make the pasta, fresh pasta is a must). But, this is one dish that is well worth the time and effort to put in. And it's a great dish for company because you can make it advance and then just bake it. A major culinary breakthrough for me!

Printable Recipe of Turkey Cannelloni

Ingredients

• 1 cup minced onion
• 1/3 cup minced carrot
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1.5 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning (I substituted a mix of basil, oregano and thyme)
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup millk
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 jar tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 pound fresh pasta sheets

Directions

• Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook over moderate heat until softened.
• Add the garlic and cook one minute. 
• Add turkey, stirring occasionally until meat is no longer pink. 
• Add wine and reduce for one minute. Stir in broth, herbs, bay leaf and salt and pepper.
• Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover and reduce until almost dry. Discard bay leaf and set mixture aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan set over moderately low heat. Whisk in flour for about two minutes. Whisk in milk, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally for five minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and parmesan.
• Transfer cooled meat mixture to a large bowl, mix in egg yolks and cooled cheese and parsley sauce. Set aside.
• Combine the tomato sauce and cream. Set aside.
• Cut the pasta sheets crosswise into 5 inch lengths. Cook in boiling water until al dente -- should only take a couple of minutes with fresh pasta.
• Spoon some filling down the centre of one noodle and roll the noodle to enclose the filling. Transfer cannelloni seam-side down to a buttered lasagna pan until filling is complete.
• Cover cannelloni with tomato-cream sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until bubbling. Run under broiler for two minutes until cheese is golden.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com 

Shrimp Scampi

On Sundays I like to spend time in the kitchen. It's an opportunity for me to unwind and relax and make a meal that will have a couple of portions left over for a relaxed dinner on Mondays.

I saw this recipe over at Annie's Eats and I immediately gravitated towards it because it had only a few simple ingredients and looked like a light summer supper. We don't eat a lot of fish at home but often have shrimp on hand and I really like how it was the star of this meal. I made the pasta from scratch and tossed it with this light butter-lemon sauce and it was a hit. Unfortunately, it was such a hit, that there weren't any leftovers!


Ingredients

• 3/4 lb. linguine (try to make homemade like this)
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined 
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3-4 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in a saute pan, melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for one minute. 
• Add the shrimp in an even layer and add salt and pepper. Once down side of shrimp turns pink, flip and cook second side evenly. 
• When shrimp is opaque, remove pan from heat and stir in the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and red pepper flakes.
• Drain pasta and add to the saute pan and toss to combine.
• Serve immediately.

Recipe from Annie's Eats

Summer Garden Pasta

I was recently given a gift certificate for Indigo and I knew exactly what I wanted to buy -- a cookbook by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. For years, I have enjoyed watching her on the Food Network for her simple, classic recipes and she always just looks so happy cooking! Though I guess if I had her kitchen in the Hamptons, I might too!

Anyway, so I just got two of her books in the mail and they are beautiful. Nice glossy pages with beautiful photos and I was immediately inspired to make three dishes of hers and they were all easy and full of flavour.

The first I made was the summer garden pasta. Angel hair pasta topped with a simple mixture of cherry tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil and garlic. You had to marinade the sauce for a few hours before so all the flavours infused together and it smelled like nothing else. I couldn't wait to eat this one!

Ingredients
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa at Home

• fresh angel hair pasta (make your own using this recipe)
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves freshly minced garlic
• 10 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded
• 1 cup grated fresh parmesan
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil and salt and pepper. Toss and let sit for about four hours.
• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta. Drain.
• Put tomato mixure in a large pan and warm. Add in pasta and toss, fully coating pasta. Add parmesan and stir, letting it melt throughout.
• Serve warm with more parmesan and basil for presentation.