Hola!

Well it is Cinco de Mayo and I have no Mexican dish to present you. Sorry, but Mexican food just didn’t make the list this week. I did make that spicy black bean dip Saturday. Go have a look at that recipe if you feel cheated.

However, tonight we did have an awesome meal even if does fall more on the Italian side of the culinary spectrum. It comes from the Pioneer Woman and if you’ve never read her blog go there now. Stop reading and click the link. She is hilarious and her recipes are amazing. I’ve yet to try one I didn’t like.

What first drew me to this recipe was the picture on the left hand side of her page. She features different recipes there and if they strike my fancy, I usually check them out. This one happens to be for a shrimp pasta with a tomato cream sauce. I am beginning to love tomato cream sauces. They work great for my family because Taylor would rather have a tomato based sauce and I would rather have a cream based sauce. Now we have the best of both worlds!

Shrimp Farfalle in a Tomato Cream Sauce

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Penne a la Betsy

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb. Shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3/4 lb. Farfalle pasta (otherwise known as bow tie pasta)
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
8 oz. Tomato sauce
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp basil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil (for the pasta). Heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Remove to a plate. Add the pasta to the now boiling water. Add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to the skillet from earlier and add the shallot and garlic, stirring occasionally. Chop shrimp into bite size pieces (remember to remove the tails if yours still have them on). Add chicken stock, tomato sauce and cream to the pan with the onions and garlic, one at a time and stir to combine before adding the next liquid. Add shrimp to tomato cream sauce and salt and black pepper to taste. Add herbs and stir together. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Serve hot with fresh grated parmesan cheese on top!