Seafood Pasta

I found the recipe in my  at blanchard's table  cookbook, and it was wonderful. The recipe calls for shrimp but I adapted it. I love seafood, but living in Arizona it is always very expensive! At Trader Joe's I found a frozen seafood medley (shrimp, scallops + calamari $5.99), which actually worked well. Obviously fresh seafood would be better, but you learn to adapt quickly when you are on a budget :)

Also, since I am watching my gluten intake, we used Gluten Free pasta. If you have never used GF pasta, it is worth trying. It cooks a little differently than normal pasta, which caused our sauce to be a little creamer than expected, but we love it. Bill even ate it (and had seconds) which as you know passes the "make it again test!" Since I used GF pasta ($2) the meal was a little more expensive than it would be if you used normal pasta. The entire meal was about $8.50, but we got 3 meals out of it! We were lucky enough to use lemons from our tree and basil from our garden! One of the MANY pluses to having a garden!!

Penne with Shrimp, Garlic, Lemon + Basil

1 pound penne (or whatever pasta you have lying around!)
3 TBLS olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 TSP dried red pepper flakes
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half lengthwise (or Trader Joe's Seafood Medley)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
1 TSP salt
1/4 TSP freshly ground black pepper
             Freshly grated Parmesan cheese 


Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil in high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender. Drain well and return to the pot.


While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, pepper flakes, and shrimp, and cook stirring, just until the shrimp turns pink (2-3 minutes).


Once the pasta is back in the pasta pot, add the shrimp, lemon juice and basil, and toss well. Add the salt and pepper, adjusting to taste and add more lemon juice if desired. Serve immediately with plenty of Parmesan cheese! Enjoy!

xoxo

Meggan