Pink Sauce with Shrimp and Broccoli

With the weather warming and no AC, I look at my oven with distaste. During the warmer months, I usually look for recipes that can be made quickly and will not heat the whole house while cooking. This is one of them.

I love pink sauce. It is my favorite! What I don't like is the heavy cream that pink sauces call for. Most recipes call for 1-1.5 cups of heavy cream and pouring that much heavy cream into my food gives me the heebie-jeebies. I was interested in substituting yogurt for the heavy cream. Cassie at backtoherroots.com had a recipe that sounded delicious. I tweaked it a bit for my own taste and it was super tasty.

This recipe makes A LOT of food. It was like the never-ending pasta bowl at the Olive Garden. Using plain Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream really cuts down on the fat. I did use a bag of peeled and deveined shrimp so this recipe could not be made easier.  I had some broccoli in the house and used that instead of spinach. Since I love me some spinach and pasta I will have to add it next time.

Pink Sauce with Shrimp and Broccoli
Adapted from backtoherroots.com
Ingredients:

one 1 lb box of angel hair (my favorite) or spaghetti or your favorite pasta
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 can of sliced mushrooms or 8oz container of button mushrooms, sliced
16 oz bag of raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup your favorite marinara sauce (or more if you like more saucy)
1/2 cup of 0% plain Greek yogurt
the florets of one medium head of broccoli, boiled for 5 minutes and drained.
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to the directions.
Heat oil in a large pan. Saute garlic and red pepper flakes until garlic softens, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes or 5 minutes if using fresh. Add tomatoes and shrimp and cook until shrimp is opaque. Turn heat to low. Add marinara sauce and broccoli and allow to heat through. Add yogurt and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over pasta. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Broccoli Pesto Pasta

The first blog I ever followed was Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com before I even knew what a blog was. She is extremely talented and her dreamy photography makes me swoon. Her cookbooks have yet to reside on my bookshelf but they are on my wishlist. She emphasizes natural and wholesome foods and her recipes look delicious. Despite following her for so long, I have never made a recipe. Not Heidi's fault, I can be a bit of a slacker in the trying new recipes department. I finally got around to making this broccoli pesto pasta and it was delicious and easy. She also used black olives and spinach which I am sure would make this even more delicious. Make sure to head her way and be prepared to swoon :)

Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Adapted from  www.101cookbooks.com

Ingredients:
1 medium head of broccoli cut into little florets
1/2 toasted pine nuts
2 cloves roasted garlic
1/3 freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
salt to taste
more parmesan for serving

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt and add broccoli. Cook for just twelve seconds (thanks Heidi :) ). Drain immediately and run cold water over the broccoli to stop cooking. Puree the broccoli, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor. Salt to taste. Drizzle in olive oil while still blending. Adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed. Cook pasta until tender. Drain and stir in pesto. Taste and add more to your liking. Add more Parmesan cheese on top and serve.

Chicken Parmesan

Husband (between mouthfuls of food): So, are you going to to post this recipe on your blog?
Me: Nope
Husband: Why not? It is delicious.
Me: Yes, but it is too simple.
Husband: But it is delicious!
Me: I just quickly threw it together.
Husband: But you could inspire someone that has a limited amount of time. And it's delicious!!! (shovels more food into mouth).

I drove home from work last night and realized I had completely forgotten to go to the grocery store. I decided to go after I walked the dog. And when that was done, I realized all I wanted to do was put on my pjs and watch Top Chef. But we had to eat something. I pulled out some sauce and mozzarella cheese leftover from a pizza I made a couple days ago. I opened the freezer and found two lonely chicken breasts in a sea of ice cream containers and frozen veggies. I defrosted the chicken breasts, split them, pounded them, breaded them, stuck them on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and baked for about 25 minutes. Then I made pasta. I put the chicken breasts in a casserole dish with sauce and cheese and baked until bubbly and voila, dinner served. A super easy and no-fry version of chicken parmesan.

Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
Two chicken breasts, split lengthwise, and pounded thin
One cup of Italian style breadcrumbs
One egg, beaten
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated parmesan cheese
Jarred tomato space
Box of spaghetti, preferably angel hair, because it is my favorite

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip chicken pieces in eggs and allow excess to drip off. Coat chicken in breadcrumbs until  uniformly covered. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet (I used olive oil). Cook for 20- 25 minutes, turning half way. Make pasta per box directions. In a casserole dish, add one cup of sauce and distribute evenly. Add chicken. Add some sauce and mozarella cheese on top of each breast. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Serve over pasta.

Pin It