This is an amazing dish that is surprisingly REALLY easy to make. However, it will require you to purchase a vegetable spiral slicer. THIS is the one that I have and I love it; It's compact, only costs $10 and is so easy to use.
I'm not going to lie, I most definitely had my doubts about substituting real pasta with zucchini noodles but once I tried it, I just fell in love with the taste and also how much better I'd feel after eating a massive bowl of zucchini noodles versus a massive bowl of pasta. While the sauce itself isn't 100% healthy in the sense that there's butter and heavy cream, it is still a much healthier option to replace the pasta with zucchini - and the fact that it tastes great too is seriously a win, win for me.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the Shrimp Rub:
- 14 Shrimp
- 1/4 tsp Salt, Cayenne, and Paprika
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper and Sugar
- Pinch of Oregano
For the Pasta Sauce:
- 2 Zucchinis, roughly peeled and spiralized
- 5-6 mushrooms (I used white mushrooms, but Cremini or Shitake would be fine too), sliced
- 8-10 mini Heirloom Tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups of fresh Arugula
- 1 tbs salted Butter
- 2 tbs Pesto (I love Trader Joe's "Pesto alla Genovese Basil Pesto")
- 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream
- 1/4 of a Lemon, juiced
- 6-8 cloves of Garlic, minced
- Trader Joe's Garlic Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano
Directions:
1. Put the rub on the shrimp and let it marinade for about 15-20 minutes in the fridge prior to cooking
2. In a large skillet, heat up 1 TBS of olive oil and then throw in the shrimp. Cook shrimp on high heat for a few minutes, or until done and nicely seared. Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside. DO NOT DISCARD REMAINING OIL!
3. Throw in the garlic and cook for a few minutes until the edges have browned then toss in the mushrooms and butter. Cook mushrooms until they've browned and then toss in the tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes to soften before adding the Pesto paste followed by the Heavy Cream. Stir well, or until the sauce is nice and smooth
4. Bring the sauce to a boil then quickly reduce the heat until it's just simmering on low heat before adding the Zucchini noodles and Arugula. Like Spinach, Arugula doesn't take long to cook and you're also not really trying to "cook" the Zucchini noodles but rather just heat them up (you want the noodles firm and not mushy) so this part doesn't take long. Once you see that the Arugula has begun to wilt down, throw in the shrimp, turn off the heat, mix it all together, and squeeze some lemon over it
5. Serve with some freshly cracked black pepper and topped with some freshly grated Parmesan...Now THIS is Double Yummy Too Much!!!
Thanks so much for checking out this recipe and I hope whoever tries to make it enjoys it as much as Allen and I did.
Thanks and Happy Friday!
Cheers,
Stevie
