Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

I got home earlier than usual from work yesterday, so I actually had time to try a new recipe during the week!  I looked around on pinterest to find something new.  It led me to this great food site - foodgawker.com.  It was so hard to narrow down the choices!  I decided on this pasta dish because of the quick cook time.  It's pretty simple since you can use frozen shrimp and dried herbs.  I'm not usually a fan of creamy pasta sauces, but this one was great because it's not too thick.  We added some Parmesan to thicken up the sauce - it had a wonderful flavor!

Picture from Chaos in the Kitchen

Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

recipe from Chaos in the Kitchen
serves 4, prep 5 min, cook time 30 min
•4-8 oz fettuccine or linguine
•10 tbsp butter, divided (I used 8)
•8 oz fresh, sliced mushrooms
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•3 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces
•2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
•1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
•2/3 cup boiling water (from your noodle pot)
•1 lb cooked shrimp (I used frozen - but only about 1/2 lb)

1.Boil and salt a large pot of water and cook your pasta. I usually only use about half of an 8 oz box, preferring fewer noodles.

2.While your pasta is cooking, cook your shrimp if necessary and reserve. If your shrimp are pre-cooked and frozen, quickly thaw them under running water.

3.In a large skillet melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until soft and brown. Season with salt and pepper.

4.Reserve cooked mushrooms and melt remaining butter in the skillet. Add minced garlic, cream cheese, and herbs. At this point, I generally feel like something has gone terribly wrong. The cream cheese doesn’t really melt and starts to look almost curdled, don’t worry about it! It will all smooth out and be wonderful when we add the water. I promise.

5.Simmer cream cheese mixture until well blended. Get a scoop of boiling pasta water from your noodle pot and mix it in, stirring quickly to smooth out the sauce.

6.Keep sauce hot and add shrimp and mushrooms, mix well and simmer (stirring often) until everything is hot and thickened, about 10 minutes-you wont ruin this sauce by accidentally boiling it so don’t worry.

7.Toss sauce with cooked noodles and serve.