Lemony Ricotta Shrimp Pasta

April 8, 2012Katie

On the nights Mr. Wonderful works late, I assume he’ll eat at work.

Those are the nights I make “girly food”.


You know the type I think he might not want to touch with a 10 foot pole?  Lemony things are one of them.

Tori and I loved the Chicken Saltimbocca we made one night.

Mr. Wonderful?

Not so much.

For you see, the sauce was lemony, as it usually is in Chicken Saltimbocca.  So, I tell you all of that to say, I didn’t think he’d love this dish.

Oh, but I did.

Truly loved it.  And the great news is, you can throw this together in the time it takes the pasta to boil.  Let me show you how.

Put a large pot of water on the stove, throw in some salt and turn it on high.  When, it boils, dump in one box of whole wheat fusilli (corkscrew pasta) or any other pasta that has ridges or grooves to really hold sauce well.

Now, this goes really quickly so let’s get all our prep work done first.  You can buy pre-cooked shrimp, but I much prefer to get the uncooked and cook them myself.  For super ease, buy the de-shelled ones, but if not, it’s pretty quick to pull the shells and tail off.  And if you save them and toss them in a saucepan of water and simmer them for a half hour, they make fantastic seafood stock for something later on.

I used one package of large size shrimp and pulled off the shells and tails.  Look for one that says 31-35 on it.  The number means how many shrimp per pound you’re buying.

Now zest one large lemon and cut it in half.

Put a large saucepan over medium heat on the stove.  Toss in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and let it all melt and swirl together.

Chop up about one tablespoon of fresh rosemary.  Using your fingers, kind of pinch and then slide the leaves off the stems backward.  Stack them up and chop them with a knife.  Also chop up 2 cloves of garlic pretty finely.  Toss them both into the butter/olive oil mixture in your pan.  Stir them around for about a minute.  This will infuse rosemary and garlic flavor into your oil so when you cook your shrimp, they will so yummy!

Right now your kitchen will begin to smell wonderful.

Now, add in your shrimp and cook it in the flavor-infused oil until it turns pink, stirring it often, about 3 minutes.  Do NOT overcook your shrimp.  It will be like biting into leather.  Overcooked shrimp = icky!

Remove the cooked shrimp to a bowl and dump one container of ricotta cheese into the pan.  Squeeze your cut lemon into the pan as well and also dump in your grated lemon zest.  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper and your chopped rosemary.

Stir this up for about two minutes, just letting it get warm.

Drain your pasta.

Pour it into a large pasta serving bowl.

 

I must apologize for picture quality at this point.  This is where my good camera died and I had to switch to my other one…

Pour your ricotta-lemon sauce right over top.

Take some tongs or 2 wooden spoons and toss this up really well, making sure the creamy sauce really gets all into all those spiral wells.

Dump your shrimp over top of this.

Sprinkle on some shaved parmesan.

Sprinkle on some more chopped rosemary, just for kicks, color, and more flavor!

Oh my.  This was creamy-good with a hint of lemony freshness and the flavor of the rosemary.  And the shrimp…OH, the shrimp mixed in…it was…

HEAVEN…sigh.

I mean really, really heavenly…

This is definately a girl’s nite in meal…or it will be for me often when Mr. Wonderful’s not eating…

However Jason, our son stopped by and tasted it and he loved it..and took the rest home to his wife…so..

Maybe it’s not just GIRL food after all?

Katie’s Printable Recipe – Lemony Ricotta Shrimp Pasta

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