Cheese Shrimp Penne Pasta & Spinach

This dish is so wonderful and easy. It is such an upgrade from the traditional alfredo. However, if young ones are going to also be enjoying this dish, I would suggest cutting the cayenne pepper down to about 1/2 tsp, otherwise leave it alone if you like a bit of spice.

This really was a fantastic dish. My family, including the four kids, really liked it. The only thing I did differently was instead of using penne pasta, I used fettuccini. We will definitely be making this a regular in our meal rotation.

This was really good! I did make a few minor adjustments. The family demanded that I not add the cayenne pepper. I had medium shells instead of penne so I used them. The portobellos I sliced into medium thick strips and I had a jar of roasted red bell peppers that I used instead of fresh. Everyone loved this dish! One thing to note, I have yet to find alfredo sauce that isn’t salty so don’t add any salt until you’ve tasted it just before it’s ready to plate. Mine didn’t need any because the salt in the alfredo sauce was enough. This recipe is a keeper!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box Penne Pasta
• 1lb Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 3 C Fresh Chopped Spinach, Kale or Arugula (do not use frozen)
• 1 C Mozzarella or Swiss Cheese
• 3 Garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 tsp Salt, Pepper & Garlic Salt
• 8 C Water
• 2 T Butter
• 1 T Oil

Directions:

1. Make pasta according to pkg. Last 5 mins of cooking add your shrimp to pasta water. Cook until no longer pink. Drain all but 1 C of water for next step. Keep pasta and shrimp warm.
2. In a pan add oil & butter over Med heat. When butter melts add, pasta to pan. Toss to coat. Season. Cook for 2 mins, stirring often.
3. Next, add spinach, cook for 1 min until wilted (add ⅓ cup more water here if necessary to steam/cook spinach) Last add shrimp and cheese. Stir gently until cheese melts. Do not overcook. Add more seasonings to taste. Garnish with dried cilantro.