Dan Smith
I’m a sucker for Alfredo sauce and just about anything it covers. The sauce can come from a jar (not so great, but passable), a packet, a can or my head and I’ll devour it all.
When it’s covering something especially appealing—say grilled shrimp—then I have a short trip to heaven at my disposal.
My amoretti (that’s “girlfriend” for those of us too old to have a girlfriend) was in this past weekend and she wasn’t feeling well, so I wanted to cook something special to help both her physical and mental health. Alfredo to the rescue.
Here’s what I did:
Alfredo Sauce ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
- Half a cup of cream cheese
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Half a teaspoon of basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
Mix the butter, whipping cream and cream cheese in a medium covered pan and melt it all. Add the garlic and spices and whisk it until it’s smooth, then add the grated parmesan. Simmer for about four minutes. When it thickens, it’s ready.
Put the pasta in hot water with about an ounce of vegetable oil and let it simmer while the shrimp cooks.
Shrimp mixture ingredients
- Four ounces of linguini
- Pound of peeled, deveined shrimp
- Half a pound of sliced mushrooms
- Half a medium chopped onion
- 2 ounces olive oil
- Handful of peanuts
- Teaspoon curry powder, salt, pepper, garlic pepper
- Sprig of fresh rosemary
Dan Smith
Heat the olive oil and spread the onions and mushrooms over it to brown. Put shrimp in a plastic bag with the spices and shake until the shrimp is covered in them. After about five minutes and one complete turn of the onions and mushrooms, spread in the shrimp mixture into the pan and let it brown.
When the shrimp is browned, add the drained linguini and pour the Alfredo sauce over the entire mixture. Sprinkle the peanuts on top. Let it simmer for a few minutes, then serve it, garnished with a sprig of rosemary.
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).