Quarantine Pasta so Good You'll Make It on the Regular
(Photo: Kimberly Wang)
The story behind this pasta goes like this: early on in quarantine, I looked in my fridge and freezer one day and asked myself what I could make using the ingredients I had on hand (hey, necessity is the mother of invention, right?). And it was so delicious, I’ve since made it three more times and my husband has declared it his favorite pasta ever. The best part is most of this stuff you can keep in the freezer or pantry for a long, long time, which makes it kind of the perfect quarantine recipe. I don’t have a better name for it, so it’s gonna be called Quarantine Pasta for now.
(Photo: Kimberly Wang)
Ingredients
5 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
12 oz. of frozen shrimp
8 oz. of frozen peas (half a bag)
10 oz. of frozen or fresh mushrooms (baby bella or in this case, sliced portabello)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/3 cup of chicken stock
2 tablespoon of all-purpose flour for thickening
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
A squeeze of lemon (optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 servings of fusilli or farfalle pasta (or whatever pasta you have on hand), cooked
(Photo: Kimberly Wang)
Directions
1. Start by cooking the bacon on a large pan and when crisp, set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Discard the bacon fat (or save it for more flavoring :) and in the same pan, melt the butter and add the frozen shrimp to the pan in a single layer. Cook the shrimp for about a minute on each side, or just till the shrimp is pink and cooked through. Don’t forget to salt and pepper your shrimp as they cook. Then, set the shrimp aside on a plate but keep the butter for the next step.
2. Cook your pasta and move on to the next step for the sauce. Add the mushroom to the same pan you used for cooking the shrimp and cook in the leftover butter until mushrooms begin to wilt on medium heat, about three minutes. Lower the heat to medium low, and add the cream and chicken stock to the pan and give it a stir. Be careful to not let the cream boil so the sauce doesn’t curdle.
(Photo: Kimberly Wang)
3. Add the flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring well in between to thicken the sauce to a creamy consistency. If the sauce is too thick, add in more chicken stock a tablespoon at a time. If it’s too watery, add in more flour a teaspoon at a time. Then, add in the Worcestershire sauce and give it a good stir.
4. Next add in the frozen peas, bacon (and bacon fat, if saved), shrimp, salt, and peper and give the sauce a stir. Cook for an additional 2 minutes or until the peas are cooked through. After your pasta is cooked and drained, put the pasta back in the pot and add the sauce and mix well to incorporate. Add a squeeze of lemon and give your pasta another stir, then serve immediately.
(Photo: Kimberly Wang)