No More Tomato! Please!

So you tried the last recipe, and you have a spouse who just can't take that much tomato? I totally understand. For all the shoveling most of us have had to endure (sorry Canada) pasta dinners are a great way to fill up and have the energy in the morning to keep going, especially when your side street isn't plowed and the only way it'll get clear is you and your wonderful shovel. But all this tomato is giving you heartburn and tummy aches! Look in your freezer, in the back. Is that a one pound bag of frozen shrimp? Hallelujah! Now make this:


Shrimp and Pine Nut Pasta

8 oz uncooked spaghetti
12 oz (or a pound, w/e) peeled and deveined medium shrimp
2 Tbs pinenuts, toasted (put them in your toaster oven and hit toast. Just make sure to watch them)
1 cup milk (divided)
1 Tbs flour
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I know, right? crazy but it works)
1/4 tst salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or the stuff in the green bottle, sense we've been snowed in, you've got to make do. just don't tell my dad)
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves (this is for garnish, so if you don't care to impress, just add it to the first amount of basil)

1. Boil water. Add pasta and cook for 7 minutes. Add shrimp and cook an additional 3 minutes. Drain (and add some olive oil so the pasta doesn't stick to much).

2. While pasta cooks, combine 1/2 cup milk and the flour in a large saucepan (this will be the pan you mix everything in, so yes, large), stirring with a whisk until well blended. Place pan over medium heat; gradually stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk. Stir in mustard and nutmeg. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Stir in salt and pepper; cook 1 minute. Add drained pasta mixture, cheese, and chopped basil, tossing gently to combine. Sprinkle with nuts and torn basil.

4 Servings

*courtesy Cooking Light October 2009