Shrimp Alfredo Pasta

Pasta is and has always been one of my favorite meals. I love spaghetti with a simple
homemade marinara sauce topped with mozzarella cheese, a savory lasagna or my husbands’
fresh made from scratch ravioli (I’ll see if I get his permission to share his recipe here! =) ).
But right now – there’s a staple pasta dish that I make a couple of times a month: Shrimp Alfredo
Pasta. Yuummm!!! I’m drooling just thinking about it. This recipe is super easy….it just takes a
little patience and dedication to your pot as you’re making the sauce to ensure it does not burn.
Keeping your flame on your stove low and stirring often is key here to avoid having a cheesy,
clumpy mess or worse all your yummy Parmesan cheese getting burned and stuck to the
bottom of your pan.

One of our favorite proteins to add to the dish has been shrimp but you can swap out the shrimp
for some juicy grilled chicken breast, add broccoli to it or anything else your belly desires. We’ve
stuck to shrimp because we love shrimp and normally have some in the freezer – and shrimp
cooks pretty fast making this a quick and easy meal….and delicious of course. What helps
make this sauce extra special, is the fresh Sage leaves. It really elevates it, it is absolutely
delicious! With the sauce being homemade, I dare say it tastes better and fresher than store
bought. No offense to store bought – I still turn to a jar of sauce from time to time but with Alfredo
sauce, I now prefer making this one myself. For the pasta, you can also use a different type
aside from Fettuccine – feel free to use spaghetti, linguine, etc. I actually make this sometimes
with Penne (Penne Alfredo), you get to enjoy the sauce even more because instead of your
sauce ending up at the bottom of your bowl it’s soaked up into the pasta. I’m making myself so
hungry, ugh! I’ll be ok.

So first thing I do before starting the sauce is grate my Parmesan cheese. Don’t scream, it’s ok
if you only have Parmesan that’s already shredded in a bag! That’s totally fine too – I try my best
to use freshly grated because it melts and tastes better. There have been times when I didn’t
have a block of Parmesan in the fridge and could not get to the store and just used a bag of
shredded parm, it turns out fine. So if that’s what you have, go for it – use it! Grating the cheese
before starting to cook will make things go smoother. You can even grate your cheese the day
before if you know you will be making this the following day, you can do it the same day a few
hours in advance too. Whatever makes your life easier. So that’s tip #1.

Here is tip #2, mind your sauce, Mind Your Sauce! Lol, sorry not yelling at you but, I can’t
say it enough. You want to stir this sauce often once you add that lovely Parmesan cheese you
spent time grating or not if you used a bag of shredded cheese =) Because if you don’t, like I said before you can end up with the opposite of a smooth, creamy Alfredo sauce – you’ll get a clumpy mess. You don’t want that,
trust me.

Once your sauce is ready, you can add it to your cooked pasta. Since I normally serve this with
shrimp, I cook the shrimp once the sauce is done and have added it to the pasta. Aside from
these tips, this is an easy recipe with just a few ingredients that comes together fairly quickly.

Ingredients:

For the Alfredo Sauce:

• 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt, plus more for pasta pot
• 1 Pound of Fettuccine (Or your pasta of choice -spaghetti, penne etc.)
• 1 Cup of pasta water reserved from cooked pasta
• 2 Cups of Heavy Cream or Half/Half (no cream – you can even use milk if that’s all you have)
• 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• ½ Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
• 10 Fresh Sage Leaves
• 1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

For the Shrimp:

• 1 1/2 Pounds of Raw Shrimp (Fresh or Frozen)
• 3 Tablespoons of Butter or Olive Oil
• 3/4 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
• 3/4 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
• 3/4 Teaspoon of Kosher Salt
• Sprinkle of Black Pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. When you are ready to begin the sauce, add
   the fettuccine to the boiling water and cook according to cooking instructions on the package.
2. Once pasta is cooked to your desired texture, drain pasta water – REMEMBER to save at least 1 cup of the pasta water. You will need it for the sauce.
3. Once you’ve drained your pasta, add it back to the pot, drizzle with a little olive oil, toss and cover and set aside while you prepare your sauce.
4. Next, in a large skillet or medium sized pot – combine the cream, 1 cup pasta cooking water, the butter, sage, and half of the grated cheese.
5. Stir to melt the butter and bring to just a simmer. Let simmer lightly for a minute or two, so the
   cream infuses the sage leaves.
6. Add the sauce to your cooked pasta and season with salt to taste, return to a simmer. Simmer, tossing with tongs, just until the sauce begins to coat the pasta, another minute or two.
7. Remove from heat, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese, and toss.

For the Shrimp:

1. Season Shrimp: Pat your shrimp dry, in a mixing bowl add shrimp, garlic powder, onion powder
   and salt. Give it a quick toss to coat shrimp with all seasoning.
2. Heat the 3 tablespoons of butter or olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
3. Add the shrimp and cook 1 – 2 minutes on each side until just opaque and cooked through,
   turning them with tongs.
4. Add the cooked shrimp to your sauced up pasta, serve immediately and enjoy!

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As we say here in Puerto Rico – Buen provecho friends! (enjoy your meal!) 

If you tried this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Feel free to comment below, thanks!