Monday, April 5, 2010

Are you feeling hungry?

It's Tuesday, that means Melanie and I are sharing our 'Pioneer Recipe' with you all today :-) Last week I chose a pasta dish, the dish is called Penne a la Betsy - a recipe PW got from her sister.

This dish to me sounded delicious . . . . what's not to love about cream, garlic, butter, wine and shrimp? I couldn't wait to try this dish. I made this last Friday night. My neighbor Cheryl had popped over and we (hubby and I) were sitting outside having a glass of wine chatting with her. I said I was going in to make the pasta dish so Cheryl came in too and chatted with me while I made it. And for that reason, I didn't actually get many photos (or even good quality ones, I took these with my Google phone!)

This is such a simple dish to make, you start off sauteing a small onion in butter, then add chopped garlic, then a 1/2 cup of dry white wine (this I borrowed from Cheryl because I only had sweet Liebfraumilch in) ;-)

then add a 14oz can of tomato sauce and a cup of heavy cream! Meanwhile you've been boiling 1lb of penne pasta. Add this to the creamy sauce and then stir in your 1lb of shrimp (which you've sauteed earlier, or if you're like me you just defrosted some cooked shrimp) and then your fresh herbs, parsley and a little basil.... and voila!

A delicious dish of creamy shrimp pasta.

As I said, I didn't get many pictures while making this, I just managed to snap a few shots before we all tried a bowl. The pictures don't do it justice, this was a pretty salmon kind of pink creamy sauce, and I loved the taste of it. Hubby tried it too (and he doesn't even like shrimp) and he said he liked it. My intention was to half the pasta mix and add shrimp to one half and chicken for him to the other half, but I didn't really have time to do the chicken. Jason said he didn't care about the chicken, he would try this anyway.


Both Cheryl and Jason said it was really nice.

The verdict: Get ready for the good news and the bad.... the good news, this was a quick and simple yet decadent meal, I think it would be great for a quick weekend dinner with a nice fresh salad and a cool glass of white wine. You better intend to eat all of this in one sitting though, because the bad news is, it doesn't reheat well the next day - trust me on this one, I tried it and . . . yuck! The pasta absorbs all of the sauce so it's very dry and the pasta itself is very 'mushy'. I couldn't eat it so I'm sad to say the rest of it went in the trash the next day :-(

PW has this recipe on her cooking blog so CLICK HERE for some delicious looking photos AND the recipe. I did notice the online recipe is slightly different from the book. The main thing being the online recipe tells you to just use an 8oz can of tomato sauce and the book calls for a 14 oz can. I used a 14oz can and would say this made it nice and 'saucy' ;-)

Don't forget to head over to Melanie's blog and see what she thought. Oh, and "what are we cooking next Mel?" ;-)

I'm linking up with Jen for Tasty Tuesday and Lisa for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Head on over to these great blogs for more wonderful recipes.

10 comments:

Traditions By The Seasons said...

Wow, that dish sounds delish! Your pictures turned out great! Thanks for sharing...I will definitely try this one! =) ~Liz

Southern Lady said...

It sounds delicious. We don't usually have many leftovers, so the reheating would not be a problem. I'll have to try this one. Thanks for sharing! Carla

sadie said...

I like that the sauce has a pink colour to it :O)

I'm sure it was scrummy. I wouldn't have leftovers to worry about, I'd have scoffed the lot!

Hope you had a lovely Easter xx

Darylynn said...

Hi Denise! We had practically the same meal but it was from Costco- it was a Shrimp pasta alfredo and it was delicious but so rich and the leftovers... exact same thing- did not reheat well and you could see all the butter separate! Glad Jason tried the shrimp! ;) Enjoy the week ahead! (((Hugz)))

Melissa Miller said...

Yum! I love pasta and shrimp recipes Denise. I could eat it for breakfast I adore it so much. Unfortunately I have to hold off on this until I finish my weight loss.

I've had an unfortunate side effect of some major water retention after coming off of my B/P meds last week. Ugh! If it's not one thing it's another huh? Sigh. I'm hoping things will start shifting again very soon.

Have a good one! ~Melissa :)

Melanie said...

I was really wanting to love this but it was just okay. I am hoping the mashed potatoes are going to be good.

Judy said...

Hi Denise! The pasta dish looks delicious! I think I gained 5 pounds just by looking at it though. :-) I don't like reheated food at all, so it would be eaten in one sitting. I think the pics look great too. Have a great day Denise. Sending big hugs!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Hi Denise. I LOVE the PW cookbook and I have not made this recipe yet. You are the second blog that I saw posted this exact recipe, this week, for TMTT. SO, now I really have to try it!! Sorry I haven't been by in a while. The move and unpacking have gotten the best of me. Thanks for sharing your recipe and linking to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Jackie said...

I have made this and when I reheated the next day, just add a little bit of milk and reheat on the stove--was still really good the second day. Hope that helps. :)

Unknown said...

I made this last night! Thanak you for sharing we loved it as we do all your recipes I have leftovers for lunch today I will try the touch of milk great idea