Happy Saturday everyone! I love lazy Saturdays – lots of time for watching college football and baking makes me a happy girl. You know what else makes me happy? Writing this post on my MacBook – it’s back in my possession and working! I posted about the death of my MacBook the other day and I was pretty bummed. Fortunately, Shane’s cousin Kieran hooked me up with the name of a local repair shop. They diagnosed the problem in no time: a dead hard drive. On the plus side, the repairs were much cheaper than I’d expected. They were not, however, able to migrate the data from my old hard drive onto my new one and, like a fool, I hadn’t backed up my data in ages. I wasn’t too upset about what I lost but I’ve learned my lesson and will be backing up much more frequently!
Anyway, enough about my computer. Let’s talk about this wonderful pasta dish! If you’re looking for comfort food or a simple, elegant dish to serve company, this is a great option! It’s also really adaptable. I subbed chicken stock for the white wine and dry herbs for the fresh. The recipe can be put together fairly quickly once you get the ingredients prepped and especially if you let the pasta cook while you cook the shrimp and make the sauce. The sauce includes a decent amount of cheese and cream so it’s not terribly healthy but definitely worthy of an occasional splurge. The dish was a huge hit here and was even great reheated the next day for lunch!
Penne with Shrimp & Herbed Cream Sauce
from Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites, by Giada de Laurentiis
1 pound penne pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 (15-oz) can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup clam juice
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until the shrimp turn pink and is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp and set aside.
Add the tomatoes, 1/4 cup basil, 1/4 cup parsley, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add the clam juice and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the cooked shrimp, the cooked pasta, and the remaining herbs. Toss together until all ingredients are coated. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the pasta with the remaining cheese before serving.
Looks wonderful! This would go well here, stealing it, thank you!
I love dishes with shrimp! I’m so happy you got your computer back. When my ac adapter broke, I went crazy without my laptop.
Yum, Tracey, this looks fab! Glad to see you’re back in business on the computer end of things. I rarely back up – maybe this will be a wake up call for me too!
Mmmm – I shouldn’t be browsing blogs when I’m hungry!
I learned my lesson all too well this year with the computer – but I think I already told you that! At least you have your computer back – which is great news!
This looks incredibly delicious. I love the creamy sauce and pasta together. Plus, it looks like yyour computer is up and running – Congrats!
I’m glad your computer got fixed. Too bad about the data, though. 🙁
Your pasta dish looks wonderful.
YUM this looks SOO good! Happy your computer is back!
This really does look and sound like a really delicious meal! I wish I had some right now, but I’ll have to wait for a night Jay is away since he has a very very strong dislike of shrimp. Pity!
Love, Love , Love Shrimp!! This looks so good!! Going on this weeks menu!!
Lazy Saturdays are wonderful! This pasta dish would be a great way to spend a lazy saturday!
this is SO my kind of cooking
The shrimp and the pasta and the tomatoes…could there be a better dinner? Looks terrific.
This was a very tasty dinner, I’m glad it was good reheated the next day as well!
Yay for the quick return of the Mac! I want to make this for dinner this week, it looks so good!
This looks SO good! I bet it would be great with chicken instead of the shrimp (I’m allergic).
I have two words for you: Time Capsule. Once you set it up (ridiculously easy) it automatically backs up your computers for you. Love mine!
Giada’s recipes are always such… date night restaurant food! Except you get to make them at home and they’re really easy and cheap! That looks so beautiful!
I’ve made this a few times and really love it! Your looks picture-perfect!
This looks wonderful. My hubby doesn’t like shrimp, so I’ll have to give it a try sometime when I’m cooking for myself!
Is there anything i can use to replace the clam juice? im allergic to clams :/
@HopelessRomantic – Maybe fish stock? If you had time you could probably put a quick one together using shrimp shells. You can Google for instructions. If you don’t want to go to the trouble, I’d probably just use chicken stock. It’s only 1/3 cup so I don’t think it’ll make a huge difference.
Hope you enjoy! 🙂