Last night’s dinner worked out great.  This was a pretty fast sauce to make and was crazy good over fresh pasta.  The good news is that, if you wanted to go vegetarian with it, you could also use some grilled portabello mushroom instead of shrimp.

Here are recipes for the pasta and the sauce:

FRESH PASTA

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

Pinch of sea salt

2 egg yolks

Enough room temperature water to make a stiff dough (about 6 tablespoons)

Note:  I use a stand mixer to do this but you can do it by hand and achieve the same result.

Sift the flour and add in a pinch of salt.  Incorporate the egg yolks into the flour.  Once well incorporated, add the water, one tablespoon at a time until a dense, stiff dough forms.  If you find your dough is sticky, add more flour.  If it is too dry, add just a little water.

Roll your pasta through a pasta roller.  This can also be done on a floured board with a rolling pin.

Cut pasta into wide strips and boil until done.  Fresh pasta should only take a couple of minutes to cook.  Test a single noodle first to be sure.

SHRIMP PRIMAVERA ALFREDO

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers, any color, sliced into thin strips

½ yellow onion, sliced into thin strips

4 cloves finely chopped garlic

1 cup sliced mushroom

½ lb asparagus tops

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter, divided

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

¼ cup white wine

4 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons each fresh chopped basil

2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano

1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

1 lb raw, cleaned, shelled shrimp (31/40)

Preheat large skillet to medium heat on stovetop.  Heat olive oil and two tablespoons of the butter.  Add all vegetables into the pan, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cook until vegetables are softening a little but still al dente, stirring occasionally.  Add three tablespoons of flour and stir to coat vegetables.  Continue stirring as flour begins to brown.  Pour in the white wine and stir well.  Let the wine reduce a little.  Stir in the milk, two remaining two tablespoons of butter and herbs and continue stirring until mixture heats up and starts to thicken.  Once the sauce is hot and starts to thicken, add in the shrimp and cook for a couple of more minutes, just until the shrimp are cooked.  Shrimp should turn pink but still be firm.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over pasta with a little fresh parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil.

Enjoy!

Trish